Investigating Impulsivity as a Root Cause of School Violence: A Systematic Review

• In Event: Findings that Build on Knowledge about the Root Causes and Consequences of School Violence

Abstract

This study seeks to understand impulsivity, or the tendency to act without careful thought, as a root cause of school violence. Impulsivity has been measured with myriad approaches and conceptualizations. The overall construct has been found to be longitudinally and cross-sectionally associated with various antisocial behaviors that are correlated with school violence, such as interpersonal difficulties, behavioral problems, drug and alcohol abuse, criminal thinking, and externalizing disorders. Further, some reviews have documented the how impulsivity correlates with aggression, social adjustment, and juvenile delinquency, but not specifically on impulsivity as related to school violence. This project goes beyond prior studies by focusing on specific forms of impulsivity and on school violence outcomes. It prioritizes longitudinal studies that support inferences about root causes of school violence and employs appropriate methodological and statistical techniques to combine effect sizes across studies. The research team double screened over 2,500 abstracts and ultimately identified over 80 eligible studies, including over 1,000 effect sizes. The presentation will discuss results for impulsivity as a root cause of school violence along with implications for policy, practice, and research methods using secondary datasets in meta-analysis.

Authors

• Laura Michaelson, American Institutes for Research

• Josh Polanin, American Institutes for Research