Multiple Mediators for Peer-Directed Aggression and Happiness in Arab Adolescents Exposed to Parent–child Aggression

Qutaiba Agbaria, Liat Hamama (), Hod Orkibi, Belle Gabriel-Fried and Tammie Ronen
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Qutaiba Agbaria: Al-Qasmi College
Liat Hamama: Tel Aviv University
Hod Orkibi: University of Haifa
Belle Gabriel-Fried: Tel Aviv University
Tammie Ronen: Tel Aviv University

Child Indicators Research, 2016, vol. 9, issue 3, No 13, 785-803

Abstract: Abstract This study aimed to examine a multi-mediator model explaining how exposure to parent-child physical aggression may link with adolescents’ peer-directed physical aggression and their own subjective happiness, in an understudied Israeli Arab population. Mediators included hostility, anger, need to belong, and self-control. Arab adolescents from northern Israel (N = 155; 62 % girls, aged 16-17) completed questionnaires regarding parents’ physical violence toward them, their own aggression toward peers, need to belong, happiness, positive emotions, and selfcontrol skills. (a) Parent-child physical aggression linked positively with peerdirected aggression through the mediating associations of hostility with anger; (b) parent-child physical aggression linked negatively with peer-directed aggression and happiness through the mediation of adolescents’ increased need to belong; and (c) parent-child physical aggression was not directly linked with self-control, but selfcontrol directly linked negatively with peer-directed aggression and positively with happiness. Findings highlight pathways through which parent-child physical aggression may simultaneously influence adolescents’ aggressive behavior and happiness. The mediation detected possible process variables (e.g., yearning for belonging, self-control skills, hostile thoughts, and angry feelings) that researchers and clinicians can consider in designing prevention and treatment interventions to break the inter-generational cycle of violence.

Keywords: Adolescents; Israeli Arabs; Parent-child physical aggression; Peer-directed aggression; Need to belong; Happiness; Positive emotions; Self-control (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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DOI: 10.1007/s12187-015-9346-y

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