Cognitive, social, and emotional markers of non-physical aggression: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Non-physical aggression are behaviours designed to harm an individual through social, relation or verbal means. Non-physical aggression first emerges in early childhood but persists well into adulthood and beyond. Furthermore, despite primarily focusing on non-physical aggression during early development, research shows the serious harms associated with non-physical aggression are not limited to childhood and adolescence. Therefore, a better understanding of the individual and social correlates of this type of aggression post adolescence is needed to assist harm reduction and prevention efforts. To our knowledge, a synthesis of the psychosocial predictors of non-physical aggression beyond early childhood has not been undertaken. The aim of this review is to fill this void in the non-physical aggression literature.