The relationship between verbal aggressiveness and mental health of students at secondary school

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the relationship between verbal aggressiveness and mental health of students in secondary school. The Verbal Aggressive Scale (VAS), introduced by D.A. Infante, et al. (1986) [1], and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) by R. Goodman (1997) [2] were used in this study. Survey data was collected from 708 students at two lower secondary schools and two upper secondary schools in Thua Thien Hue province. The results showed that verbally aggressive behaviours are occasionally performed; mental health problems are positively associated with verbally aggressive behaviour and negatively correlated with verbally benevolent behaviour. The prosocial behaviour is positively associated with verbally benevolent behaviour and negatively correlated with verbally aggressive behaviour reversely. Although the level of verbal aggressiveness committed by secondary school students is lower than that of benevolent communication, schools should consider the construct of interventions to reduce the prevalence of verbal abuse; hence building attachment connections among adolescents. The results of this study can provide useful insights into developing nonviolent communication education programs for adolescents.