What If Violent Behavior Was a Coping Strategy? Approaching a Model Based on Artificial Neural Networks

Abstract

The aggressor sets in motion dysfunctional and violent behaviors with others in the dynamic of bullying. These behaviors can be understood as misfit coping strategies in response to environmental demands perceived as stressful, putting at risk the quality of education. The aim of this study was to develop a predictive model based on artificial neural networks (ANN) to forecast a violent coping strategy based on perceived stress, resilience, other coping strategies and various socio-demographic variables. For this purpose, the Stress Coping Questionnaire (SCQ), the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) and the Brief Resilient Coping Scale (BRCS) were administered to 283 participants from the educational field (71.5% women). The design was cross-sectional. An inferential analysis (multilayer perception ANN) was performed with SPSS version 24. The results showed a predictive model that took into consideration the subject’s stress levels, personal assessment and strategies such as negative self-targeting or avoidance to predict open emotional expression (a coping strategy defined by violent behaviors) in approximately four out of five cases. The conclusions emphasis the need for considering problem solving, stress management and coping skills to prevent school violence and improve the social environment through sustainable psychological measures.