Childhood Emotional Abuse and Aggressive Behaviors in Delinquency: The Mediators of Emotional Dysregulation and Deviant Peer Affiliation.

Abstract

Childhood emotional abuse is a well-established risk factor for delinquent behavior. However, research examining the pathways from emotional abuse to aggression within an integrated theoretical model remains limited. The current study examines the serial mediation of emotional dysregulation and deviant peer affiliation in the relationship between childhood emotional abuse and aggressive behaviors among male juvenile delinquents. A total of 438 male adolescents (mean age = 19.03 years, SD = 2.82) were recruited from a juvenile correctional facility in China. Participants completed a battery of questionnaires, including the five-item emotional abuse subscale of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form, the Peers' Deviant Behaviors Scale, the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale, and the Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire. A latent variable structural equation modeling analysis was conducted to test a hypothesized serial mediation model. The results revealed a significant direct effect of emotional abuse on aggressive behavior. The relationship was independently mediated by both emotional dysregulation and deviant peer affiliation, as well as sequentially through emotional dysregulation leading to increased deviant peer affiliation. These findings suggest that emotional dysregulation and affiliation with deviant peers are critical mechanisms through which childhood emotional abuse fosters aggressive behavior. This has important implications for designing targeted interventions for psychological service providers working with this population.