The Reduction of Peer Directed Aggression among Highly Aggressive African-American Boys / Cynthia Ann Hudley.

A study of highly aggressive African American boys sought to understand the effect of an attribution retraining program designed to reduce aggressive males' tendency to attribute hostile intentions to peers following ambiguous, negative interactions. One hundred and one African American aggressive and non-aggressive elementary school boys in Los Angeles (California) were randomly assigned to an attributional intervention, an attention training program, or a non-treatment control group. Subjects' reactions to hypothetical peer provocation, teacher ratings of aggressive behavior, and referrals for formal disciplinary action were evaluated for both statistical and clinical significance. The effects of attribution retraining on aggressive participants' judgments and behavior toward a peer in a laboratory task were also evaluated. Compared to their counterparts in the attention training and control groups, aggressive subjects targeted for the attributional intervention showed a significant reduction in the bias to presume hostile intent on the part of peers in both hypothetical and laboratory simulations of ambiguous provocation. Intervention participants were rated as less reactively aggressive by their teachers following treatment and were less likely to be sent for disciplinary action. The benefits of attributional change and its limitations in the population sampled are discussed. Included are 6 tables and 41 references. (JB)

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