ABSTRACT
Objective:To test a model in which self-esteem mediated the effects of behavior on exposure to violence(victimization) in a sample of rural middle school students.Methods:A cross-section study was conducted in 3620 middle school students randomly selected from rural areas.A questionnaire of violence(WHO) and Achenbach Children Behavior Checklist(CBCL) and Rosenberg self-esteem scale were used to measure the exposure to violence behavior,and self-esteem respectively.Results:Hierarchical regression analyses provided evidence that the addition of self-esteem reduced the links between behavior and exposure to violence(? from 0.232 to 0.226).Sobel Z-test predicted that self-esteem partially mediated the effects of behavior on exposure to violence(victimization) with significant difference(? from 0.232 to 0.226,Sobel-Z value=2.340,P=0.019).Speech violence,physical violence,and sexual violence were tested by the same model respectively,and the results showed that self-esteem partially mediated the effects of behavior on speech violence with significant difference(? from 0.225 to 0.200,Sobel-Z value=1.992,P=0.046),but not on physical or sexual violence.Conclusion:Self-esteem partially mediates the effects of behavior on exposure to violence(emotion violence).