Abstract
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Abstract
This study determines the relationships of verbal aggressiveness with self-esteem and depression in early adolescents. Quantitative, cross-sectional design were conduct in 415 middle school students with verbal aggressiveness in Jakarta that has been screened as participants. The Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (VAS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and 11-ITEM Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS-11) questionnaires that had been validity and reliability tested were used. From all participants, 55.9% committing a moderate level of verbal aggressiveness, 45.5% had low self-esteem, and 50.4% experienced depression. The Pearson product-moment test showed a significant relationship between verbal aggressiveness and self-esteem in early adolescents with verbal aggression, while the Mann–Whitney test also indicated verbal aggressiveness and depression in early adolescents with verbal aggression are related. This study recommends related parties to pay more attention to the verbal aggression incident in early adolescents.
Introduction
Adolescence spans from 11 to 20 years of age and is divided into three phases: early (11---14 years), middle (15---17 years), and late adolescents (18---20 years).1 Fundamentally,the family is the source of security to support adolescents development.2 When the sense of security is family is notfulfilling, adolescents will turn to friends to satisfy their needs of friendship, self-esteem, and intimacy.2 When failing to belong to a group of friends, adolescents may encounter low self-esteem, loneliness, and depression.3 Therefore, some adolescents showing the typical attributes of group to be accepted, even by committing violent behavior such as verbal aggressiveness.3
Verbal aggressiveness is a behavior of using aggressive language which can violate the rights of others, usually in the form of interrupting habit, sarcasm, or other forms of verbal abuse, including bullying.4 The perpetrators may become popular in the group, which has the same attitude and have an increased self-esteem accordingly so that they keep this behavior.3 Some studies found that adolescents with verbal aggressiveness usually have low life satisfaction, poor family background, and low self-esteem.5 On the other hand, the victims of verbal abuse may experience psychological trauma and even psychiatric disorders, such as panic attacks, phobias, and depression.