The role of anger and depressive mood in transformation process from victimization to perpetration

Anger and aggression research: A bibliometric analysis from 2012 to 2022

Anger and aggression are common sources of distress and impairment. There is, however, no available data on anger and aggression based on bibliometric analysis. This study uses bibliometric analysis to analyze research hotspots and trends in anger and aggression. Publications on anger and aggression within the last ten years were collected from the Web of Science Core Collection. Using descriptive bibliometrics, journals, countries, institutions, authors, references, and keywords in anger and aggression research were visually analyzed via CiteSpace. A total of 3114 articles were included, and studies on anger and aggression increased yearly. The publications are mainly from 106 countries led by the USA and 381 institutions led by Univ Penn. We identified 505 authors, where Emil F. Coccaro had the highest number of articles, while Buss A.H. was the most frequently co-cited author. AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOR is the journal that bore most of the studies, while PLOS ONE was the most cited journal. Our analysis demonstrated that research on anger and aggression is flourishing. Behaviors of anger and aggression, risk factors, neural mechanisms, personality, and adolescence have been researched hotspots in the past ten years. Besides, victimization, drosophila melanogaster, psychopathic traits, and perpetration are emerging anger and aggression research trends.

Associations among Bullying Victimization, Family Dysfunction, Negative Affect, and Bullying Perpetration in Macanese Adolescents

Bullying has become one of the most significant problem behaviors that school-aged adolescents face. The current study examines the strain-delinquency relationship by employing General Strain Theory as a guiding framework. "Strain" was operationalized as bullying victimization and family dysfunction, "delinquency" was operationalized as bullying perpetration, and "negative affect" was operationalized as anxiety and depression. Analyses were carried out based on a group of 2,139 Macanese schoolchildren. Using a structural equation modeling technique, the results revealed that exposure to family dysfunction and bullying victimization was associated with adolescents' negative affect, such as anxiety and depression. Contrary to our expectations, the indirect effect of victimization on bullying through negative affect was negative, though the mediation effect was relatively small and only significant in boys. In addition, gender analyses of invariance showed that male adolescents who experienced more family conflict and parental control were less likely to engage in bullying. This study could lead to further anti-bullying interventions and practical efforts designed to improve positive parenting and adolescents' interpersonal skills.

Parental bonding and adolescent bullying perpetration: Examining sequential indirect effects of anxiety and anger-in

The purpose of the current study was to examine how perceived parental bonding indirectly affects bullying perpetration through adolescent psycho-emotional states. Using structural equation modeling, the authors tested a comprehensive model, wherein lack of parental caring was associated with increased adolescent anxiety and suppressed anger, which was associated with a greater risk of bullying perpetration. Data were collected from 669 middle school students (458 males, 211 females) in the southeastern region of South Korea. Participants completed the Korean versions of the Parental Bonding Inventory, Revised Children’s Manifest Anxiety Scale, and State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, as well as, the Olweus Bullying Questionnaire. Results demonstrated that parental bonding was negatively associated with adolescent anxiety; adolescent anxiety was positively related to adolescent anger-in; and adolescent anger-in was positively associated with bullying perpetration. Neither adolescent anxiety nor anger-in directly linked the relationship between parental bonding and bullying perpetration. However, the results partially supported the hypothesized model in that maternal parental bonding indirectly influenced bullying perpetration through adolescent anxiety and subsequently through anger-in. Together, the present findings illuminate a potential underlying mechanism that adolescent psycho-emotional states bridge parental bonding and bullying behaviors. Interventions designed to build quality parent-child relationships and emotion regulation strategies may reduce bullying perpetration particularly among adolescents who developed poor bonds with their mothers.

Role of self-esteem and family-level social capital in the pathway from victimization to aggression

BACKGROUND

Children's aggressive behaviors remain a critical global concern that may cause harm to other children's behavioral, emotional and psychological, social, and academic functions. However, in this context, the possibility that children's aggressive behaviors might be responsive consequences triggered by the antecedent victimization should not be dismissed. In order to explore the pathway from victimization to later aggression, the structural relationships among victimization, self-esteem, social capital within the family, and aggression were tested, followed by further examination of the mediating roles of social capital within the family and the sequential mediating role of self-esteem and social capital in the pathway.

METHOD

To test this hypothesized model, the responses of 2,844 fourth graders (48.4 % female), extracted from the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS) were used. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to test the hypothesized model using Mplus 7.4.

RESULTS

According to the findings, victimization indirectly influenced later displays of aggression, but not directly. In addition, social capital either from parent(s) or sibling(s) was significantly mediated in the pathway from victimization to aggression. Lastly, when considering self- esteem in the model, the sequential mediating role of self-esteem and social capital from parent(s) was confirmed in the pathway, but not for the other sequential mediating role of self-esteem and social capital from sibling(s).

CONCLUSION

The study's findings reveal the necessity of reconsidering the adequacy of a punitive approach towards children who display aggression. They also provide guidance for determining where to intervene in preventing victimized children from developing aggression. Practical implications are discussed accordingly.