Patterns of emotion, behavior, and social-cognition in both hypothetical and real situations of interpersonal conflict and distress are examined in aggressive, difficult-to-manage preschool children. Anti-social children are commonly described as deficient in moral reasoning, unempathic, and unlikely to engage in prosocial acts (e.g., sharing, help, cooperation, negotiation). This study investigates individual differences in the organization of these social patterns in children at risk, to better understand dimensions that underlie the development of serious interpersonal aggression and rule violation. The first wave of assessment has been completed and data is being analyzed for approximately 80 children at low, moderate, or high risk for later conduct problems. Children at risk make fewer prosocial choices in experimental situations, though problem girls construct more prosocial solutions than problem boys. Even the most aggressive children do not show diminished empathic, prosocial behaviors at this age, toward adults in distress. These children are more emotionally aroused, however, which may interfere with later empathic development and generalized patterns of caring for others.
