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Objective: To determine the relationships of the verbal aggressiveness with self-esteem, and depression in early adolescents who were perpetrators of verbal aggression.

Method: This study used quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive-correlative design. Using a purposive sampling technique, we recruited 415 junior high school students in Jakarta Indonesia that had committed verbal aggression. The measurement tools in this study were the Verbal Aggressiveness Scale (VAS), Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES), and 11- ITEM Kutcher Adolescent Depression Scale (KADS-11); all had been tested for validity and reliability.

Results: Of all participants, 55.9% reported committing a moderate level of verbal aggressiveness, 45.5% had low self-esteem, and 50.4% experienced depression. Verbal aggressiveness, low self-esteem, and depression occurred more frequently among the adolescent girls. The results of the Pearson product-moment test showed a significant relationship between verbal aggressiveness and self-esteem (p = 0.000), while the Mann-Whitney test also indicated the relationship between verbal aggressiveness and depression (p = 0.000).

Conclusions: The verbal aggressiveness is associated with the self-esteem and depression of the adolescents who committed verbal aggressiveness. This study recommends educational institutions, health institutions, and parents to pay more attention to the incidence of verbal aggression in adolescents, especially in early adolescents.