Students’ antisocial and aggressive behavior: development and prediction

Students’ antisocial behavior can often lead to violence in school. Longitudinal studies pertaining to antisocial behavior have contributed considerably to the development of knowledge in this field of research. This knowledge now enables us to identify the different developmental stages of aggressive and antisocial behavior during childhood and adolescence. Consequently, we are better able to identify antisocial behavior in the classroom, to describe the developmental pathways leading to antisocial behavior, to identify the risk factors relating to this issue and finally, to predict who might be at‐risk of developing antisocial behavior. In the past, antisocial behavior was conceived as following a single developmental pathway encompassing several categories of behavioral problems. Now, on the other hand, many studies demonstrate how the development of these behaviors can be explained through different pathways.