Agresividad y afrontamiento en la adolescencia. Una perspectiva intercultural

Resumen

The infantile and juvenile aggressiveness is considered to be a complex phenomenon, with multiple factors that contribute to different aggressive manifestations. This phenomenon has been an object of many investigations, which have the aim to understand the basic mechanisms that cause and regulate this behaviour and it is important to consider that the interculturality is a reality that characterizes our school and our society. The increase of the immigrant population in Spain during the last years and the increase of international adoptions has generated in some schools a high percentage of pupils proceeding from other cultures. This study tries to analyze the presence of aggressive behaviour and the mechanisms of coping in a sample of 1557 adolescents 12 to 15 years old. Instruments used were the Inventory of Empathy for Children and Adolescents, the Prosocial Behaviour Scale, the Emotional Instability Scale, the Physical and Verbal Aggression Scale, and the Adolescents Coping Scale. The results show significant differences in physical and verbal aggressives behaviours and in the coping strategies evaluated depending on sex, the country of birth and the presence of students from other countries.