Abstract
Parental phubbing, as a new risk factor for adolescents’ healthy development, has been noticed by scholars. However, few studies have clarified the associations between parental phubbing and adolescents’ proactive and reactive aggression and the potential mediating mechanisms. To address the gaps, the current study explored the longitudinal associations among parental phubbing, self-esteem, and adolescents’ proactive and reactive aggression by using the parallel process latent growth curve model and the cross-lagged panel model. The current study involved 2407 Chinese adolescents (girls were 1202, Mage = 12.75, SD = 0.58 at baseline, range = 11–16). Results indicated that parental phubbing significantly positively predicted adolescents’ reactive aggression but not proactive aggression. Self-esteem significantly predicted the adolescents’ reactive and proactive aggression. Self-esteem significantly mediated the associations between parental phubbing and adolescents’ proactive and reactive aggression, respectively. These findings suggest that intervening with parental phubbing is a promising way to reduce adolescents’ reactive aggression, and promoting adolescents’ self-esteem is an effective approach to prevent their proactive and reactive aggression.
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We disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This research was supported by the Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Project of China (20YJC190021) to X.W. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors. We would like to thank all of the school partners and adolescents who participated in this study.
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This research was supported by the Ministry of Education of Humanities and Social Science Project of China (20YJC190021) X.W.
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J.Y. coordinated the data collection, conceived of the study, and revising the draft; X.Z. participated in the interpretation of the data, performed statistical analyses, and drafted the manuscript; S.W. participated in the interpretation of the data, and drafted the manuscript; X.W. conceived of the study, authored the funding application, participated in the interpretation of the data, conceived of the manuscript, and revising the draft. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Yang, J., Zeng, X. & Wang, X. Associations among Parental Phubbing, Self-esteem, and Adolescents’ Proactive and Reactive Aggression: A Three-Year Longitudinal Study in China. J. Youth Adolescence 53, 343–359 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01850-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-023-01850-2