Abstract
This research aimed to analyse differences in levels of resilience, aggression and
socio-demographic factors which were related to an early school leaver group and a
Secondary group. The study involved a total of 82 adolescent male participants aged
between 15-19 years. This participant number was comprised of 42 early school
leavers in full-time attendance of a Government funded education programme and 40
Secondary school students studying for the Dept. of Education Leaving Certificate.
All adolescents completed the 29 item Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire, a
selection of seven domains from the Individual Protective Factors Index (IPFI) A
Measure of Adolescent Resiliency and a short dem?graphic questionnaire. Analysis of
the results using an independent sample T -test found significant differences between
groups in the self evaluations for levels of physical and verbal aggression, family size,
and unemployment rates per head of household and occupation skill level, per same.
No overall significant differences were found between groups in the seven resiliency
measures. Further analysis using a Pearson correlation found strong negative
relationships at the .01 significance levels between the seven IPFI domains and the
four Buss-Perry Aggression measures. Implications for future research and
preventative interventions are discussed.
