Draft:Violence perpetrated by women
The study of aggression in women has not been studied as much as violence in men.[1]: 14
Individual factors
Development
Gender differences in the level of aggression arise in toddlers.[1]: 7 If a boy's mother is malnourished there is an increased risk that the boy will be diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder as an adult - but this effect is absent for women. Depression has been shown to increase measures of externalizing behaviours more in boys at the age of two, but more in girls at the age of six.: 8 Girls with congenital adrenal hyperplasia are exposed to higher levels of testosterone in the womb and are more aggressive than women without the condition.: 2018
Fear
A study on women found that high level of startle response to threatening images was associated with lower level of activations of the brain's mentalization network including the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex. Activation of this area is correlated with aggressive behaviour and angry rumination.
Oxytocin
Breast feeding women, who have higher levels of oxytocin, have been found to be more aggressive than those that feed children with formula. Oxytocin may increase aggression possibly by reducing anxiety.[1]: 13
Cycle of violence
There is evidence that childhood adversity of women increases the likelihood increases the chance that they will engage in violence, but with a small effect size.[2]
- ^ a b c Denson, Thomas F.; O’Dean, Siobhan M.; Blake, Khandis R.; Beames, Joanne R. (2018). "Aggression in Women: Behavior, Brain and Hormones". Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 12: 81. doi:10.3389/fnbeh.2018.00081. ISSN 1662-5153. PMC 5942158. PMID 29770113.
- ^ Augsburger, Mareike; Basler, Kayley; Maercker, Andreas (2019). "Is there a female cycle of violence after exposure to childhood maltreatment? A meta-analysis". Psychological Medicine. 49 (11): 1776–1786. doi:10.1017/S0033291719000680. ISSN 0033-2917. PMID 30994081. S2CID 119101924.