Aggression Among Female Adolescents: Using a Protection-Risk Interaction Mechanism (PRIM) Model as a Framework

According to the US Surgeon General, growth in violence rates among females has outpaced the growth in violence rates among males, although reasons for these increases remain unclear. Based on the developmental processes of gender identity, socialization, and social-information processing, possible theoretical explanations as to the function of aggression among female adolescents are offered. The current study uses structural equation modeling to test a Protection-Risk Interaction Mechanism (PRIM) model. Using a data set composed of clinically-referred adolescents receiving community- based mental health services, the current work examines how risk and protective processes interact to predict female aggression. Additionally, this work examines how protective processes change the relationship between risk and female aggression and attempts to illuminate the function of female aggression. Results and recommendations should be especially useful to psychologists, sociologists, researchers, interventionists, and other youth- serving professions.