According to the US Surgeon General, growth in
violence rates among females has outpaced the growth
in violence rates among males, although reasons for
these increases remain unclear. Based on the
developmental processes of gender identity,
socialization, and social-information processing,
possible theoretical explanations as to the function
of aggression among female adolescents are offered.
The current study uses structural equation modeling
to test a Protection-Risk Interaction Mechanism
(PRIM) model. Using a data set composed of
clinically-referred adolescents receiving community-
based mental health services, the current work
examines how risk and protective processes interact
to predict female aggression. Additionally, this
work examines how protective processes change the
relationship between risk and female aggression and
attempts to illuminate the function of female
aggression. Results and recommendations should be
especially useful to psychologists, sociologists,
researchers, interventionists, and other youth-
serving professions.