Is Family Structure Associated with Deviance Propensity during Adolescence? The Role of Family Climate and Anger Dysregulation

Valeria Saladino, Oriana Mosca, Marco Lauriola, Lilli Hoelzlhammer, Cristina Cabras and Valeria Verrastro
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Valeria Saladino: Department of Human, Social and Health Sciences, University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, 03043 Cassino, Italy
Oriana Mosca: Department of Education, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Marco Lauriola: Department of Developmental and Social Psychology, University of Rome “Sapienza”, 00185 Rome, Italy
Lilli Hoelzlhammer: Department of Philology and Literature, LMU Munich, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, 80539 Bavaria, Germany
Cristina Cabras: Department of Education, Psychology, Philosophy, University of Cagliari, 09123 Cagliari, Italy
Valeria Verrastro: Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University of “Magna Graecia”, 88100 Catanzaro, Italy

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 24, 1-19

Abstract: Transgressive conduct and opposition towards the rules often characterize adolescence. During the development, antisocial and aggressive behavior could be a way to grow personally and to be independent. According to previous studies results, the family has a high impact on teens’ aggressive behaviors and moral disengagement. Our research involved 2328 Italian adolescents (13–19 years old) who have filled in the following questionnaires: deviant behavior questionnaire; aggression questionnaire; family communication scale; moral disengagement scale; the multidimensional scale of perceived social support. Our study investigated the role of family structure on deviance propensity through family climate and anger dysregulation joint influence. We conducted a mediation analysis to reach this goal using structural equation modeling (SEM). We have also conducted a multigroup analysis in order to evaluate gender differences in the SEM. Results showed that both family climate and anger dysregulation mediated the relationship between family structure and deviance propensity. The multigroup analysis revealed that the indirect relationship between variables through family climate is significant for both boys and girls (higher in females); variables indirect relationship through anger dysregulation was significant only for girls. These data could be useful for prevention and intervention programs on children–parent relationships and to reduce antisociality and teenager’s aggressive behavior.

Keywords: family system; adolescence; deviance; aggressive behavior; anger dysregulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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