ORCID

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5345-3164

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Psychology (Ph.D.)

Department

Psychology

First Advisor

Tamara Del Vecchio

Second Advisor

William Chaplin

Third Advisor

Raymond DiGiuseppe

Abstract

Physical aggression is known to be particularly common in toddlerhood. Further, harsh parenting practices and certain temperament traits in children have been found to be associated with aggressive behaviors. Recently, aggression has been demonstrated to be differentiated between provoked and unprovoked aggression. The current study examined early aggression and explored the mechanisms by which harsh parenting practices and temperament traits may predict different types of aggression and how that may also change depending on the stage of development in toddlerhood. That is, we proposed that harsh parenting would be more strongly associated with provoked aggression among toddlers with higher negative affect and lower effortful control, while the effect of harsh parenting practices on unprovoked aggression was expected to be stronger among toddlers higher in surgency and those lower in effortful control. This sample included 398 mothers of either their 18-month-old or 24-month-old toddlers. Mothers’ self-reported harsh parenting and their toddlers’ aggressive behaviors and temperament traits were examined. These findings indicate that harsh parenting is associated with both provoked and unprovoked aggression in toddlers. Further, negative affect traits moderated the association between harsh parenting and unprovoked aggression and the effect was stronger among toddlers lower in negative affect. Further, age-stratified post-hoc analysis demonstrated that this moderating effect was specific to 18-month-olds and was not observed in 24-month-olds. Additionally, while harsh parenting remained a predictor of unprovoked aggression, effortful control appeared to generally buffer the effects of harsh parenting on unprovoked aggression. This difference in effect observed in older toddlers may indicate varying uses of self-regulation strategies, highlighting the progression of aggressive behavior in toddlerhood. This study supports the importance of reconceptualizing aggression as occurring for reasons other than frustration.

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