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Effect of Family Cohesion on Aggression among Chinese Middle School Students: The Mediating Role of Psychological Suzhi

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Abstract

This study was based on ecological systems theory, combined with the concept of localization put forward by Chinese scholars, to explore the influence of the family (family cohesion) and personal (psychological suzhi) factors on middle school students’ aggression. A total of 20,114 middle school students aged 12 to 18 years (M = 14.30, SD = 1.40) completed the Family Cohesion Questionnaire, the Psychological Suzhi Questionnaire, and the Chinese Version of Buss and Perry Aggression Questionnaire. The results indicated that there were significant negative correlations among family cohesion, psychological suzhi, and overall aggression along with its components. Additionally, psychological suzhi significantly mediated the relationship between family cohesion and aggression and its sub-dimensions. These results highlighted the important roles of family cohesion and psychological suzhi in adolescents’ behavioral development and provided potential strategies to reduce middle school students’ aggression.

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Acknowledgements

We want to thank the students who participated in, and we are grateful to the faculty and staff at the Research Center of Mental Health Education of Southwest University for their generous support.

Funding

The research was supported by Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (SWU1909223).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Lab of Mental Health and Social Adaptation, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, 400715, Chongqing, China

    Xu Wang, Yi-bo Geng, Jie Lin, Zhen-shuo Yi & Yan-ling Liu

  2. Research Center of Mental Health Education, Southwest University, Tiansheng Road No. 2, Chongqing, China

    Xu Wang, Yi-bo Geng, Jie Lin, Zhen-shuo Yi & Yan-ling Liu

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  1. Xu Wang
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  2. Yi-bo Geng
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Contributions

Xu Wang contributed to conception and design of the study. Xu Wang wrote the manuscript, and Zhen-shuo Yi wrote the revised manuscript. Xu Wang, Jie Lin and Yi-bo Geng collected the data of the study. Yan-ling Liu wrote sections of the manuscript. All authors contributed to manuscript revision, and approved the submitted version.

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Correspondence to Yan-ling Liu.

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Wang, X., Geng, Yb., Lin, J. et al. Effect of Family Cohesion on Aggression among Chinese Middle School Students: The Mediating Role of Psychological Suzhi. Curr Psychol 42, 17724–17732 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-022-02903-8

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