Received: 11 July 2016 | Accepted: 1 April 2017

DOI: 10.1002/dev.21522

BRIEF REPORT

Afternoon cortisol provides a link between self-regulated

anger and peer-reported aggression in typically developing
children in the school context

Eva Oberle PhD1 | Kaitlyn McLachlan PhD2 | Nicole L.A. Catherine PhD3 |
Ursula Brain BA4 | Kimberly A. Schonert-Reichl PhD5 | Joanne Weinberg PhD6 |
Tim F. Oberlander MD, FRCPC4
1 School of Population and Public Health, The
Human Early Learning Partnership, The Abstract
University of British Columbia, Vancouver,
Aggression jeopardizes positive development in children and predicts social and academic
British Columbia, Canada
2 Department
maladjustment in school. The present study determined the relationships among anger
of Psychiatry, University of
Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada dysregulation (a marker of emotion regulation), cortisol activity (a biomarker of stress), and peer-
3 Simon Fraser University, Children’s Health nominated aggression in typically developing children in their everyday classroom setting
Policy Center, Vancouver, British Columbia, (N = 151, Mean age = 10.86, SD =.74). Salivary cortisol was collected at 09:15, 11:45, and
Canada
14:45 hr across 4 consecutive days. Children provided self-reports of anger regulation; peers
4 Department of Pediatrics, The University of reported proactive and reactive aggressive behaviors. Hierarchical linear regression analyses,
British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada
followed by a bootstrapping analysis identified basal afternoon cortisol as a significant mediator
5 Department of Educational and Counselling
between anger regulation and peer-reported aggression. More dysregulated anger significantly
Psychology, and Special Education, The predicted lower afternoon cortisol, which in turn predicted increased peer-reported aggression.
University of British Columbia, Vancouver, These results align with previous research on links among hypocortisolism, emotional
British Columbia, Canada
regulation, and behavior, and suggest a possible meditational pathway between emotion and
6 BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute,
behavior regulation via decreased afternoon cortisol levels.
Department of Pediatrics, School of Population
and Public Health, The University of British
Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada KEYWORDS
Correspondence aggression, cortisol, emotion regulation, peer reports, school-based research
Eva Oberle, School of Population and Public
Health, The University of British Columbia, 2206
East Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
Email: eva.oberle@ubc.ca
Funding information
The Human Early Learning Partnership, UBC

1 | INTRODUCTION
Reactive and proactive aggression are two subtypes of aggression that
have been linked to a range of maladjustment indicators, including
peer rejection, academic failure, and suspension from school (Card,
Little, Card, & Little, 2006; Hubbard, McAuliffe, Morrow, & Romano,
2010; Miller-Johnson, Coie, Maumary-Gremaud, & Bierman, 2002;
Valois, Macdonald, Bretous, Fischer, & Drane, 2002). Reactive
aggression (RA)—known as “hot tempered aggression”—is an angry
response to perceived provocation; it is associated with difficulty
encoding social cues and responding aggressively to social conflict
(Dodge & Coie, 1987; Dodge, 1991; Scarpa, Chiara, & Tanaka, 2010).
Proactive aggression (PA)—known as “cold tempered aggression”—has
been described as a deliberate behavior that occurs unprovoked and is
typically used to intimidate a person or to achieve some goal (Card
et al., 2006). Despite established distinctions, RA and PA tend to be
highly correlated and often co-occur in children demonstrating
aggressive behaviors (Scarpa et al., 2010).
A theoretical and empirical link has been established between lower
levels of self-regulation and higher levels of RA (de Castro, Merk, Koops,
Veerman, & Bosch, 2005; Eisenberg, Spinrad, & Eggum, 2010; Frick &
Morris, 2004; Lopez-Duran, Olson, Hajal, Felt, & Vazquez, 2009). While

Developmental Psychobiology. 2017;9999:1–8. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/dev © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. | 1

2 |
anger has been considered a driving force of RA (Hubbard, McAuliffe,
et al., 2010), the research on emotion-regulation in PA has been
equivocal. Most researchers have argued that children who tend to be
proactively aggressive do not consistently exhibit problems with self-
regulatory processes (Lopez-Duran et al., 2009), while some empirical
research has found a link between lower levels of emotion-regulation
ability and higher levels of PA (de Castro et al., 2005; Xu, Farver, &
Zhang, 2009).
The goal of the present study was to investigate the role of
emotion-regulation (i.e., anger regulation) and underlying physiological
processes (i.e., daily cortisol activity) in aggression in typically
developing children. Given theoretical considerations (Eisenberg
et al., 2010) and previous research findings on the link between anger
regulation and RA (Hubbard, McAuliffe, et al., 2010), the main
aggression outcome of interest in the present study is RA. Because
RA and PA overlap considerably and may co-occur in children (Scarpa
et al., 2010), we also include PA as a secondary focus. Investigating
underlying physiological processes involved in anger regulation and
both forms of aggression is also of interest because it allows exploration
of whether predictive patterns for RA and PA differ or overlap.
This study offers a novel contribution to the extant literature. We
focus on typically developing children in their everyday classroom
instead of a clinical sample representing only a small portion of the
population (i.e., the 12-months prevalence rate for clinical conduct
disorder was 2.1% in a recent study with 8–15-year-old children;
Merikangas et al., 2010). Aggression occurs in typically developing
children on a regular basis (Catherine, Schonert-Reichl, Hertzman, &
Oberlander, 2012) and is a frequent reason for adjustment challenges in
and outside school (Hubbard, Smithmyer, et al., 2010; McAdams &
Lambie, 2003). It is thus important to conceptualize aggressive behaviors
as a continuous dimension that exists to varying degrees in each child,
and investigate the involved emotional and physiological processes.
Research on the physiological processes (e.g., cortisol activity)
involved in aggression is still at an emergent stage (Alink et al., 2008;
Catherine et al., 2012). Such research is critical because it can reveal
processes underlying social behaviors and identify potential physiological
markers of aggression (Susman, 2006). In addition to a strong focus on
clinical samples and studies conducted in laboratory settings, a further
limitation of previous research on physiological processes underlying
aggression is the reliance on teacher reports of children’s externalizing
behaviors (Card et al., 2006). Teachers’ observations are often restricted
to classroom interactions and many aggressive behaviors may occur when
they are unaware. Hence, in the present study we drew from collective
reports of classroom peers about each child’s externalizing behaviors in
the school context in determining RA and PA.
1.1 | Neurobiological mechanisms involved in PA
and RA
Failure to regulate strong negative emotions such as anger has been
linked to aggression in children (Eisenberg et al., 2010). The activity of
the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) or stress axis is known to
be involved in both the regulation of emotions (Stansbury & Gunnar,
1994) and in childhood aggression (Alink et al., 2008). Whether HPA
OBERLE ET AL.
axis activity also underlies the link between emotion regulation and
aggression is still unclear.
The HPA axis is a central part of the neurobiological stress
response system. This system involves a cascade of hormones from
the hypothalamus to the pituitary to the adrenal gland, resulting in the
release of the stress hormone cortisol from the adrenal cortex (Jessop
& Turner-Cobb, 2008). Optimacl activity and regulation of the HPA
axis is critically important to health (Gunnar & Quevedo, 2007). In the
typical HPA diurnal pattern, cortisol levels are high at awakening, rise
further within 20–45 min after waking (the cortisol awakening
response, CAR), and then gradually decline across the day,
with lowest concentrations in the evening. Inappropriately elevated
or low cortisol levels and failure to downregulate cortisol throughout
the day may indicate compromised HPA axis functioning and thus
altered physiological regulation (Gunnar & Vazques, 2001; Jessop &
Turner-Cobb, 2008; Miller, Chen, & Zhou, 2007).
Research that has linked basal cortisol and externalizing behaviors
has found mixed results. A number of previous studies have consistently
found lower basal cortisol concentrations in children and adolescents
who persistently display aggressive and antisocial behaviors (Alink et al.,
2008; Gunnar & Vazques, 2001; McBurnett, Lahey, Rathouz, & Loeber,
2000; Shirtcliff & Essex, 2008; Susman, 2006; van Goozen, Fairchild,
Snoek, & Harold, 2007). However, some studies have also found the
opposite pattern, with higher basal cortisol levels linked to more
externalizing behaviors (Hart, Burock, London, Atkins, & Bonilla-
Santiago, 2005; van Bokhoven et al., 2005). In their meta-analytic
review, Alink et al. (2008) found that age moderated the relationship
between cortisol and externalizing behaviors. In fact, whereas lower
basal cortisol was significantly related to higher levels of aggression in
school-aged children, the correlation between cortisol and aggression in
early childhood (i.e., before age 5) was a significantly positive one. As a
possible explanation, the authors discussed a bidirectional process
between HPA functioning and problem behavior. Specifically, during
early childhood, children with higher levels of externalizing behaviors
might be subject to harsher punishment by parents. This, in turn, may
contribute to higher levels of stress in young children, which could affect
HPA functioning, and contribute to higher basal cortisol levels. If stress
continues over an extended time period (i.e., allostatic load), down-
regulation of the HPA axis may occur by the time children reach middle
childhood, which would be reflected in lower concentrations of cortisol.
Two further explanations have been offered for the finding that
children with lower basal cortisol levels exhibit higher levels of
aggression. The stimulation-seeking theory suggests that children with
low basal cortisol seek stimulation to increase their arousal levels to a
more optimal state (van Goozen et al., 2007). This might be reflected in
the inverse association between low basal cortisol and externalizing
behavior problems (Alink et al., 2008; Susman, 2006). Alternatively,
the fearlessness theory suggests that low cortisol concentrations
reflect fearlessness and a lack of inhibition underlying aggressive
behaviors (Raine, 2002).
Against this background, researchers have consistently linked poor
emotion regulation to aggressive behaviors in children. Specifically, the
link between anger regulation and RA has been widely supported
(Eisenberg et al., 2010; Hubbard, Smithmyer, et al., 2010). Previous
OBERLE ET AL.
| 3

research has also indicated the role of cortisol in externalizing behaviors
(e.g., Alink et al., 2008). However, to this point, it is unclear whether
cortisol may also play a role in the relationship between anger regulation
and aggression. Exploring this question is critical. It can provide insights
into the underlying pathways involved in aggressive behaviors in
typically developing children. Conducting this research in children’s day-
to-day environment—the school—is a strength of this study as the
findings have practical relevance and help researchers and educators
understand the processes involved in externalizing behaviors in the
general population of school-aged children.
1.2 | The present study
The main goal of the present study was to examine relationships
among peer-reported RA, anger dysregulation, and the daily pattern of
basal cortisol in the classroom context. We predicted that lower basal
cortisol and higher anger dysregulation would both be linked to RA
(Alink et al., 2008; Eisenberg et al., 2010; Hubbard, Smithmyer, et al.,
2010; Susman, 2006), and that more dysregulated anger—given its link
to aggressive behavior—would be significantly related to lower basal
cortisol. The role of basal cortisol as a partial or full mediator between
anger dysregulation and RA was further explored. Given that RA and
PA have been found to overlap considerably, and yet are described as
different phenotypes of aggression, a secondary goal of this study was
to investigate whether the predictive pattern revealed for RA would
differ or replicate for PA.
a large public school district in Western Canada. Schools were in urban
middle class neighborhoods (Median neighborhood family income:
CA$74,491 and CA$76,691). Participation rates in the two schools
were 94% and 86%. Most children reported English (52%) as their first
language, followed by Cantonese or Mandarin (29%), and other languages
(e.g., Tagalog) representative in the neighborhood. All participating
children were competent in reading and writing English. Two thirds (67%)
lived with both parents, one quarter (24%) lived with one of their parents,
and the remainder reported alternative family compositions (e.g., foster
care, living with grandparents or relatives). All children had received
parental consent and provided assent.
2.2 | Procedure
Self- and peer-report surveys were administered by research assistants
in the classroom during a regular class period at the end of the school
year in the spring. Items were read out loud. After survey completion,
research assistants visited each classroom three times per day over four
consecutive days (i.e., Tuesday through Friday) to collect saliva samples.
On each of the days, saliva was sampled at 09:45, 11:45, and 14:45 hr,
resulting in a total of 12 samples per subject. Samples were transferred
to a laboratory for analysis of cortisol immediately after collection. The
university and school district ethics boards provided approval.
2.3 | Measures
Means, standard deviations and correlations among all variables are
shown in Table 1.

2 | M E TH O D
2.1 | Participants
Participants were 151 typically developing students (43% boys) in 4th to
6th grade (Mean age = 10.86 years, SD =.73, Range = 9.37–10.09 years).
Data were collected in six elementary school classrooms in two schools in
2.3.1 | Demographics
Children completed a brief demographic survey.
2.3.2 | Anger regulation
We administered a three-item Anger subscale of the Children’s Emotion
Management Scale: Anger (Zeman, Shipman, & Penza-Clyve, 2001),

TABLE 1 Study variables descriptive information and intercorrelations between all variables
Variable name Mean (SD) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
1. Age 10.86 (.74) –
2. Gendera n/a .049 –
3. Anger dysregulationb 1.78 (.35) .090 .053 –
4. 9:15 am cortisol (nmol/L) c
.81 (.22) .169* −.171* −.087 –
5. 11:45am cortisol (nmol/L)c .57 (.18) −.099 .157† −.139† .011 –
6. 2:45pm cortisol (nmol/L) c
.52 (.16) .011 .056 −.208* .181* .566*** –
7. Slope −.05 (.05) −.123 .163† −.055 −.733*** .346*** .519*** –
†
8. Time since awaking d
1.82 (.44) −.134 .158 −.116 −.509*** .291*** .071 .469*** –
9. Peer nominated RAe .11 (.10) −.135 −.130 .188* −.065 −.183* −.281** −.143 .086 –
10. Peer nominated PA e
.07 (.10) −.146 −.332*** .166* .082 −.220** −.252** −.258** −.044 .701***
a
1 = male, 2 = female.
b
Higher scores indicate a more dysregulated expression of anger.
c
Raw cortisol was log transformed; cortisol values represent the average of the four samples collected on four subsequent days for each time point.
d
Larger numbers indicate more time between wake-up and 9:15 am sampling.
e
RA = reactive aggression, PA = proactive aggression; peer nominations were standardized within classroom to account for variation in classroom size.
†
p < .10; *p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.
4 |
assessing children’s dysregulation of anger expression. On a three-point
scale, children indicate 1 (hardly ever true), 2 (sometimes true), or 3 (often
true) for the statements “I do things like slamming the door when I am
mad,” “I attack whatever it is that makes me mad,” and “I say mean things
to others when I am mad.” Higher mean scores indicated more
dysregulated expression of anger. The internal consistency of the scale
was adequate (Cronbach’s α =.60) and comparable to previous studies
(Mclaughlin, Hatzenbuehler, & Hilt, 2009; Sim & Zeman, 2005).
2.3.3 | Salivary cortisol
Materials for collecting saliva samples were obtained from Salimetrics,
LLC, State College, PA. Saliva samples were collected using a sterile
cotton swab held in the mouth, between teeth and cheek, for
approximately 2 min. The swab was then placed inside an internal
container within a plastic tube. In collaboration with the classroom
teachers, we restricted high physical activity and food/drink intake
before each cortisol collection. Children recorded what time they
woke up that day, and recorded medication intake (type and time) each
morning and afternoon.
Salivettes were centrifuged at 3,000 rpm for 5 min and cortisol
levels were measured using a commercial immunoassay with
chemiluminescence detection (CLIA; IBL-Hamburg, Hamburg,
Germany). The lower limit of detection was 0.44 nmol/liter; intra-
and inter-assay coefficients of variation were less than 8%. Any sample
over 50 nmol/liter was rerun.
2.3.4 | Peer nominations of aggression
Following established procedures (Oberle, Schonert-Reichl, & Thomson,
2010; Parkhurst & Asher, 1992), peer nominations were used to obtain
independent assessments of RA (i.e., “gets angry easily and fights back
when teased,” and “gets mad at kids who hurt them by accident”; α =.88)
and PA (i.e., “plays mean tricks or plans to hurt others,” and “gets other
students to gang up on a classmate”; α =.92) (Dodge & Coie, 1987).
Students were given a list of all classmates who were participating in the
F I G UR E 1 (a) Shows the cortisol regulation from morning to afternoon, averaged across the four sampling days, for children rated as high/
low on PA/RA by peers (median split); (b and c) show afternoon cortisol mediating the link between anger dysregulation and aggressive
behaviors
OBERLE ET AL.
study. For each question, they were asked to circle the names of as many
or as few of their classmates who fit each behavioral description. The
percentage of nominations each student received for each item was
computed by dividing the number of nominations received by the total
number of participating students in the classroom. Peer nominations of
aggressive behaviors represent aggregated perceptions of all classmates,
standardized according to classroom size, and have been found reliable
and valid in previous research (Catherine et al., 2012; Crick & Dodge,
1996).
3 | RE SULTS
3.1 | Preliminary analyses
Cortisol concentrations at each time point (i.e., 09:15, 11:45, and
14:45 hr) were log transformed and averaged across the four days.
Single missing cortisol values (<6%) were replaced by the daily average
of that time point for that particular child. After transformation,
cortisol data were normally distributed at each time point of collection.
Figure 1a illustrates that children’s cortisol levels in an everyday
classroom setting followed the expected diurnal rhythm: higher
morning cortisol levels followed by a significant decline by noon and
late afternoon. Separate cortisol slopes were calculated for each of the
four sampling days, regressing the cortisol value at each time point on
awakening time. An average slope composite was created across all
days. Data analyses were performed using SPSS 18.0.
Few children reported medication intake (Mean = 4.3%,
SD = 1.76, across all four mornings; Mean = 1.9%, SD = .41, across
all four afternoons). Types of medication reported were asthma puffer,
allergy medication, cough medicine, and ADHD medication. Because
the use of such medications may impact cortisol levels (Granger, Hibel,
Fortunato, & Kapelewski, 2009), independent sample t-tests were
conducted for each of the morning and afternoon cortisol collections
OBERLE ET AL.
| 5

and daily slopes. Results indicated that cortisol did not differ
significantly between children who had reported medication intake
and those who had not.
Table 1 shows that only afternoon cortisol was significantly and
negatively related to anger regulation. More dysregulated anger
predicted lower afternoon cortisol. Afternoon cortisol was also
significantly and negatively related to PA and RA. Children with lower
basal cortisol levels were rated as significantly more aggressive by their
peers. Morning cortisol levels were statistically unrelated to anger
dysregulation and indicators of aggression. Slope was significantly and
negatively related to PA, with a steeper slope predicting higher levels
of PA. Slope was unrelated to anger regulation. These preliminary
associations are consistent with theoretically expected relationships
and were explored further in a series of regression analyses.
3.2 | Hierarchical linear regression analyses
Hierarchical regression analyses were conducted, predicting both RA
and PA from anger dysregulation and afternoon cortisol. We
controlled for gender and age in all analyses (Jessop & Turner-Cobb,
2008). Control variables were entered in the first step, afternoon
cortisol levels were entered in the second step, and anger
dysregulation was entered in the third step of the regression (see
Table 2).
3.2.1 | Predicting peer nominated RA
None of the control variables significantly predicted peer nominated RA in
Model 1. In Model 2, adding anger dysregulation resulted in a significant
model for explaining RA [adjusted R2 = .048, F (3, 136) = 3.334, p = .021].
Anger dysregulation was a significant predictor; more dysregulated
anger predicted higher levels of RA (β = .189, p =.024). The change of
variance explained from Models 1–2 was significant [R2Δ = .036,
FΔ (1, 136) = 5.205, p = .024]. In Block 3, entering afternoon cortisol to
the model significantly added variance explained in the model [R2Δ = .057,
Fchange(1, 135) = 8.827, p = .004]. The total variance explained was 10%
[adjusted R2 = .100, F (4, 135) = 4.851, p = .001]. Afternoon cortisol was a
significant negative predictor in the model; lower cortisol levels predicted
higher levels of RA (β = −.245, p = .004). When afternoon cortisol levels
were added to the model, the effect of anger dysregulation was no longer
significant. This finding provided the rationale for testing whether cortisol
is a statistical mediator between anger dysregulation and RA (Preacher &
Leonardelli, 2015).
Mediation analysis
The bootstrapping procedure PROCESS for SPSS (Hayes, 2013) was
used to test for mediation. The bootstrapping analysis tested the null
hypothesis that the indirect path from anger dysregulation to RA
through afternoon cortisol was not significantly different from zero
(see Figure 1b). The 95% confidence interval values ranged from
.004 to .033. Given that the confidence interval did not cross zero,
the null hypothesis was disconfirmed and a mediation model with
afternoon cortisol as the statistical mediator was supported. More
dysregulated anger significantly predicted lower afternoon cortisol
(β = −.210, p = .013); lower afternoon cortisol significantly predicted
higher RA (β = −.274, p = .001); the initial significant relationship
between anger dysregulation and more RA became nonsignificant
after controlling for the indirect effect of afternoon cortisol
(z = 2.047, p =.04).
3.2.2 | Predicting peer nominated PA
In Block 1, gender significantly predicted PA, with boys exhibiting higher
scores than girls (β = −.313, p < .001). Younger age marginally predicted
higher PA (β = −.136, p = .093). Model 1 was overall statistically
significant [adjusted R2 = .104, F (2, 137) = 9.099, p < .001]. Adding
anger dysregulation significantly increased the explained variance in the
model to 13.4% [R2Δ = .036, FΔ (1, 136) = 5.761, p = .018]. More
dysregulated anger significantly predicted higher levels of PA (β = .190,
p = .018). In Block 3, entering afternoon cortisol to the model
significantly increased the variance explained in PA to 16.9%
[R2Δ = .040, FΔ (1, 135) = 6.698, p = .011]. Lower afternoon cortisol
levels significantly predicted higher levels of PA (β = −.205, p = .011).
After adding afternoon cortisol to the model, the effect of anger

TABLE 2 Results for hierarchical regressions predicting peer nominated reactive and proactive aggression
Reactive aggression Proactive aggression

Variables B SE beta t p B SE beta t p

Block 1
Student age −.018 .012 −.130 −1.553 >.100 −.018 .011 −.136 −1.690 .093
Gender −.026 .017 −.124 −1.478 >.100 −.062 .016 −.313 −3.895 <.001
Block 2
Student age −.020 .012 −.142 −1.717 .088 −.020 .011 −.148 −1.868 .064
Gender −.026 .017 −.127 −1.532 >.100 −.063 .016 −.315 −3.995 <.001
Anger dysregulation .055 .024 .189 2.281 .024 .054 .022 .190 2.400 .018
Block 3
Student age −.020 .011 −.140 −1.731 .086 −.020 .011 −.145 −1.876 .063
Gender −.023 .017 −.114 −1.414 >.100 −.061 .015 −.305 −3.934 <.001
Anger dysregulation .040 .024 .137 1.658 .100 .041 .022 .146 1.841 .068
2:45 pm cortisol −.152 .051 −.245 −2.971 .004 −.123 .047 −.205 −2.588 .011
6 |
dysregulation dropped to marginal significance (β = .146, p = .068),
providing the rationale for a mediation analysis.
Mediation analysis
Bootstrapping analysis (Hayes, 2013) confirmed a significant media-
tion model (see Figure 1c). The 95% confidence interval ranged from
.003 to .029. Similar to the model for RA, more dysregulated anger
significantly predicted lower afternoon cortisol (β = −.210, p = .013);
lower afternoon cortisol significantly predicted higher PA (β = −.236,
p = .003); the initial significant relationship between anger dysregu-
lation and PA was marginally significant after controlling for the
indirect effect of afternoon cortisol.
4 | DISCUSSION
The current study examined the pathway from anger dysregulation
and cortisol regulation to both PA and RA in children in everyday
classroom settings. Higher levels of anger dysregulation were linked to
lower afternoon basal cortisol levels, which in turn was linked to higher
levels of aggression in elementary school aged children. Specifically,
afternoon cortisol levels statistically mediated the link between anger
dysregulation and aggressive behaviors.
Several explanations for our findings are possible. First,
children with high levels of dysregulated anger might also exhibit
so-called fearlessness and lack of inhibition; it has been argued
that fearlessness and a lack of inhibition are reflected in low
cortisol and drive aggressive behaviors (Raine, 2002). Second,
dysregulated anger may stem from children’s under-arousal—a
predictor of both lower basal cortisol and higher RA (Alink et al.,
2008; Susman, 2006; van Goozen et al., 2007). Last, dysregulated
anger in children might lead to social rejection by peers which has
been linked to blunted cortisol levels and more behavioral
problems in children (Ouellet-Morin et al., 2011). Further research
is needed to investigate these potential additional mediating
pathways and explore the possibility of a directional relationship
from anger dysregulation to cortisol activity to aggression in
longitudinal and experimental designs.
We can only speculate about the role of developmental
pathways in these findings. Possibly, low basal cortisol levels reflect
a “counter-regulatory” response due to long-term exposure to
excessive cortisol levels (Miller et al., 2007). Predisposition to
aggressive behavior may act as a stressor, initially elevating cortisol
during early development, then subsequently resulting in external-
izing behaviors, which in turn increasingly expose a child to ongoing
stressful experiences, which may downregulate or blunt HPA
functioning (McBurnett et al., 2000; Rudolph et al., 2000; Shirtcliff
& Essex, 2008; Susman, 2006). This pattern is also reflected in
findings showing that higher cortisol levels have been reported in
very young children with externalizing behaviors but not older
children (Alink et al., 2008; Bakermans-Kranenburg, Van Ijzendoorn,
Mesman, Alink, & Juffer, 2008; Kestler & Lewis, 2009). Future
research needs to take into account environmental variables outside
of the classroom that shape cortisol regulation and aggressive
OBERLE ET AL.
behaviors, such as early childhood experiences and adversity
(Gunnar & Quevedo, 2007).
Similar relationships for both RA and PA were demonstrated in
the current study. Dysregulated anger was associated with higher
levels of PA, with lower afternoon cortisol levels significantly
mediating this relationship. Although anger and self-regulation
have not been considered a driving factor for PA (Eisenberg et al.,
2010; Hubbard, Smithmyer, et al., 2010), some research has
suggested a link between self-regulation and PA (Xu et al., 2009).
As suggested in previous theory and research (Eisenberg et al.,
2010), self-regulatory processes might be involved in both PA and
RA, with different types of self-regulation (i.e., emotional vs.
behavioral) underpinning the two different types of aggression.
The expression of anger regulation measure used in the present
study taps into both emotional and behavioral aspects of self-
regulation (Zeman et al., 2001). In addition, overlap between PA
and RA has been established, suggesting that some of the
underlying processes of PA and RA would also be similar (Dodge
& Coie, 1987; Scarpa et al., 2010).
A possible limitation in the present study was that anger
dysregulation was measured with a three-items measure. A longer
and more comprehensive measure could be used in future research
to understand different components of anger regulation and their
link to RA and PA, as well as the underlying physiological
processes. Future research can also advance the present findings
by investigating additional predictor variables and exploring to
what degree physiological and self-regulatory processes involved
in PA and RA are shared or differ. Longitudinal research could also
advance the present study by investigating whether aggression
precedes cortisol or vice versa. Given that the study was
conducted with typically developing children in a real-life context,
the present findings have practical relevance in that they can
inform educational practices and interventions in the classroom
setting (e.g., programs that target the improvement of self-
regulatory skills in order to prevent or decrease aggression)
(Wyman et al., 2010).
5 | C ONC LU SI ON S
We identified lower basal cortisol in the afternoon as a mediator
between emotion regulation and aggressive behaviors in typically
developing children in their day-to-day school environment. This
finding significantly extends the young field of research on bio-
behavioral processes underlying aggression, and informs future
research, suggesting a possible meditational pathway between
emotion and behavior regulation via decreased basal afternoon
cortisol levels.
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How to cite this article: Oberle E, McLachlan KM, Catherine
NL, et al. Afternoon cortisol provides a link between self-
regulated anger and peer-reported aggression in typically
developing children in the school context. Developmental
Psychobiology. 2017;9999:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1002/
dev.21522