Coercive Parenting and Juvenile Delinquency in China: Assessing Gender Differences in the Moderating Effect of Empathic Concern.

Coercive parenting has been identified as a prevalent parenting style in Chinese society. Previous research has shown that personal attributes such as empathic concern moderate the positive impact of coercive parenting on juvenile delinquency. However, there has been a paucity of research examining if and how such a moderating mechanism would operate differently across genders. Drawing on the two-wave survey data from a sample of 1088 Chinese adolescents (mean of age = 13.82, SD = 1.49; 49.7% females), this study found that compared to those with lower empathic concern, adolescents with higher empathic concern were less delinquent under a low-to-moderate level of coercive parenting, but more delinquent when coercive control reached a medium-to-high level. Furthermore, multiple group analyses revealed gender differences in the moderation mechanism, such that empathic concern only significantly moderated the relationship in females. The findings underscore the importance of considering adolescent personal characteristics and gender differences when examining the relationship between parenting styles and juvenile delinquency.

Perceived Discrimination and Aggression Among Chinese Migrant Adolescents: A Moderated Mediation Model.

Previous research has showed that Chinese rural-to-urban migrant adolescents are at high risk for discrimination, negative emotions, and aggression. However, little is known about how discrimination, negative emotions, and aggression are interrelated and whether social support addressing the emotional needs of the adolescents would moderate the relationship of discrimination to aggression. This study attempts to fill these gaps. Based on prior research, it is proposed that perceived discrimination relates to reactive aggression by increasing negative emotions that foster aggressive responses to stressful events. Considering the central role that negative emotions may play, it is also hypothesized that socioemotional support provided by family, friends, and community mitigates the impact of perceived discrimination on reactive aggression by reducing negative emotions. The results obtained from the analysis of two-wave survey data collected from a probability sample of 470 migrant students aged 11-17 (46.17% female; mean age = 13.49) in China supported these hypotheses. The findings indicate that perceived discrimination fosters negative emotions, which in turn increase reactive aggression. Additionally, socioemotional support reduces the adverse impact of perceived discrimination on reactive aggression by weakening the link between perceived discrimination and negative emotions. Practical and policy implications of these findings are discussed.

Pathways From Family Violence to Adolescent Violence: Examining the Mediating Mechanisms.

PURPOSE: Past research has documented a significant relationship between family violence and adolescent violence. However, much is unknown about the processes through which this association occurs, especially in the non-Western cultural context. To address this gap, we propose an integrated model encompassing multiple pathways that connect family violence to adolescent violence. Specifically, this study investigates how family violence is related to adolescent violence through violent peer association, normative beliefs about violence, and negative emotions. METHOD: We tested the model using the two-wave survey data collected from a probability sample of more than 1,100 adolescents residing in one of the largest metropolitan areas in China in 2015 to 2016. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The results indicated that family violence predicted adolescent violence perpetration. Violent peer association, normative beliefs, and negative emotions, however, mediated much of the relationship between family violence and adolescent violence.

The Interrelationship between Family Violence, Adolescent Violence, and Adolescent Violent Victimization: An Application and Extension of the Cultural Spillover Theory in China.

The current study is the first study to emphasize family systems, violent norms, and violent peer association as three domains of the social environment that influence both adolescent violent offending and victimization among Chinese adolescents using a longitudinal sample. Under the framework of cultural spillover theory, the purpose of the current study was to explore how these three factors influenced adolescent violent offending and victimization. A total of 1192 middle and high school students were randomly selected from one of the largest cities in Southwest China. Structural equation model analysis was applied to investigate the direct and indirect effect of violence in the family system on violent offending and victimization. The results indicated that violent offending and victimization overlapped among Chinese adolescents. Violent peer association and acceptance of the violence norm fully mediated the effect of violence in the family system on violent offending, and partially mediated the effect of violence in the family system on violent victimization. In conclusion, adolescents who had experienced violence in their family system were more likely to be exposed to violent peer influences and to accept violent norms, which increased the likelihood of violence perpetration and victimization later in their life.

Testing mediation using multiple regression and structural equation modeling analyses in secondary data.

Mediation analysis in child and adolescent development research is possible using large secondary data sets. This article provides an overview of two statistical methods commonly used to test mediated effects in secondary analysis: multiple regression and structural equation modeling (SEM). Two empirical studies are presented to illustrate the respective circumstances in which the two methods are most useful. One study examines the mediated effect of parents' social capital on parent involvement in Head Start programs through parent-child bond. The other study assesses the mediating effects of structured routine activities, delinquent association, and prosocial belief on the relationship between religiosity and juvenile delinquency.

Comparison of the educational deficiencies of delinquent and nondelinquent students.

This article assesses the differences in educational deficiencies between a statewide sample of delinquent students and a matched sample of nondelinquent students. Employing a research design that controls for a series of relevant individual and school variables, the study's findings document that delinquent students are characterized by a series of disproportionate educational deficiencies as compared to their nondelinquent student counterparts. Delinquent students were found to attain lower grade point averages, have poorer school attendance records, be retained more often in the same grade, and receive more school disciplinary actions. The article concludes that these documented educational deficiencies may play an integral role in the process of delinquency and, therefore, pose a number of public policy implications in relation to the prevention and treatment of delinquency.