Gender Differences in Predictors of Self-Reported Physical Aggression: Exploring Theoretically Relevant Dimensions among Adolescents from Santiago, Chile.

Research findings remain unclear on whether different factors predict aggression for adolescent men and women. Given that aggression research is rarely conducted with Latin American populations, the current study used multiple imputation and linear regression to assess gender differences in levels and predictors of self-reported physical aggression among a community sample of young (ages 11 through 17) men (n=504) and women (n = 471) from Santiago, Chile. Results revealed that adolescent women reported engaging in higher levels of physical aggression than men. The variables found to be significantly associated with higher levels of reported aggression-younger age, less family involvement, less parental control, less positive relationships with caregivers, having more friends who act out and use substances, having fewer friends committed to learning, presence of dating violence, and more exposure to neighborhood crime-were not moderated by gender, implying that similar factors are related to aggression in adolescent men and women from Chile. Implications for prevention and intervention efforts to address high-risk adolescents and reduce aggression among Chilean youth are discussed.