Despite growing attention to the link between psychological maltreatment and cyberbullying victimization, the underlying mechanisms remain underexplored, especially in non-Western cultural contexts like China. Recognizing cyberbullying as a critical issue with alarming prevalence rates among Chinese adolescents and its detrimental effects on well-being, this study aims to illuminate pathways within the cycle of victimization. Drawing on social rank theory, which posits that early maltreatment fosters submissive strategies that heighten vulnerability to victimization, and the resilience framework, which emphasizes the protective role of assets such as social-emotional competence (SEC), this study examined whether submissive behavior mediates the association between psychological maltreatment (psychological abuse and neglect) and cyberbullying victimization, and whether SEC buffers these pathways. A three-wave cross-sectional survey with 1 week apart was conducted with 1,323 Chinese adolescents from five public schools in Beijing and Hunan Province. Utilizing structural equation modeling, results suggested that submissive behavior fully mediated the relation between psychological abuse and cyberbullying victimization, and partially mediated the relation between psychological neglect and cyberbullying victimization. Importantly, while SEC did not moderate the link between psychological maltreatment and submissive behavior, it significantly buffered the association between submissive behavior and cyberbullying victimization. These findings help outline a model of how psychological maltreatment may contribute to vulnerability to cyberbullying from a social rank perspective and highlight the protective role of social-emotional competence in mitigating these risks among adolescents.

Although peer rejection has been associated with increased reactive and proactive aggression, previous studies have predominantly used cross-sectional designs, which limits causal inferences. Moreover, current research on the specific mechanisms of different aggression subtypes remains in adequate. This longitudinal study aimed to (1) Examine whether peer rejection differentially predicts reactive and proactive aggression, (2) Test whether rejection sensitivity mediates these pathways and (3) Compare the Cumulative Risk Theory and Cognitive Dissonance Theory by exploring how hostile attribution bias moderates the effect of rejection sensitivity on reactive/proactive aggression. A total of 967 students from 13 primary and secondary schools in China, completed questionnaires at two time points within 1 year. Measurement indicators included peer rejection, rejection sensitivity, hostile attribution bias and reactive/proactive aggression. Results showed that: (1) T1 Peer rejection predicted T2 reactive and proactive aggression; (2) T2 Rejection sensitivity mediated the relationship between T1 peer rejection and T2 reactive aggression, but did not mediate T2 proactive aggression; (3) T2 Hostile attribution bias negatively moderated the link between T2 rejection sensitivity and T2 reactive aggression. These findings support Cognitive Dissonance Theory, suggesting that adolescents who experience emotional-cognitive conflict may be more prone to reactive aggression after encountering peer rejection.

Power and aggression are core relational variables that share a fickle relationship. It is unclear whether high or low power relates to psychological aggression and under which circumstances. We tested psychopathy as a potential moderator in the power-aggression link because psychopathy is characterized by a lack of empathy and shallow emotional response. Psychopathy could strengthen the link between high power and psychological aggression because power ignites character traits and their corresponding behavior. Alternatively, psychopathy could strengthen the link between low power and psychological aggression because individuals high in psychopathy may attempt to compensate for their lack of power with aggression. We tested these competing hypotheses in a romantic context across two studies (N = 188 individuals, N = 226 couples). We found power to be negatively related to both actors' and partners' psychological aggression. Supporting the latter hypothesis, we found that the most psychologically aggressive people had low power and high psychopathy. In addition, people reported high psychological aggression when their partners were low in power and high in psychopathy. These findings advance existing power theories and research by highlighting how personality traits such as psychopathy affect both intra- and interpersonal links to psychological aggression.

Heavy drinking couples in which one (i.e., discordant heavy drinking) or both (i.e., concordant heavy drinking) partners drink alcohol heavily are at greater risk for intimate partner violence (IPV) than couples in which neither partner drinks heavily (i.e., concordant nonheavy drinking). Additionally, the risk for IPV is particularly high among discordant as compared to concordant heavy drinking couples. Despite the fact that individuals who drink heavily often also use other drugs, the extent to which couples' use of other drugs interacts with heavy drinking patterns remains unknown. The current study examined differences in psychological and physical IPV perpetration as a function of couples' heavy drinking and other drug use patterns. The sample included 337 couples in which at least one partner reported a history of heavy drinking and IPV in the current relationship. Results of dyadic path models showed that concordant drug using couples who engaged in either discordant or concordant heavy drinking were at greater risk for male- and female-perpetrated psychological IPV compared to concordant nondrug using couples (regardless of heavy drinking) and concordant nonheavy drinking couples (regardless of drug use). Associations between heavy drinking and other drug use patterns on physical IPV perpetration were not statistically significant. These findings show that a pattern of concordant drug use paired with discordant or concordant heavy drinking places couples at particularly high risk for psychological IPV. Clinicians working with couples affected by IPV may benefit from paying attention to the dyadic dynamics of heavy drinking, other drug use, and IPV.

Parental maltreatment has profound and severe negative effects on children's physical and mental development, as well as on family functioning and stability. Although the existing literature extensively investigates the mechanisms underlying parental maltreatment, the interdependence of parental behaviors and the unique role of cultural context-specifically, the potential influence of parental self-esteem on maltreatment behavior within the Chinese cultural framework-remain underexplored. Therefore, this study utilized a longitudinal Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model (APIMeM) to track 627 pairs of parents of fourth-grade elementary school students (fathers: M_age = 35.06 years, SD = 5.80; mothers: M_age = 33.09 years, SD = 5.89) over a 2-year period with three assessments. The aim was to examine the relationship between Child-Invested Contingent Self-Esteem (CCSE) and parental maltreatment, and to explore the potential mediating role of emotional dysregulation. The results indicated that parental CCSE significantly predicted their own maltreatment behaviors and directly predict their partner's maltreatment behaviors. Emotional dysregulation mediated the relationship between CCSE and parental maltreatment: parents' CCSE influenced their partner's emotional dysregulation, which in turn affected their own maltreatment behaviors. Simultaneously, parents' CCSE influenced their own emotional dysregulation, which indirectly affected their partner's maltreatment behaviors. This study provides a novel understanding of the mechanisms underlying parental maltreatment from the perspectives of CCSE and emotional dysregulation, highlighting the key role of parental interaction patterns and emotional transmission in the occurrence of family violence. These findings offer empirical support for the development of effective parental maltreatment prevention and intervention strategies that are culturally tailored to the Chinese context.

Rumination about past victimization as an adult underlies the link between school-age victimization and mental health difficulties in young adulthood. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the risk factors for adults to ruminate on their past victimization experiences. The current study fills this gap by examining whether current social relationships (e.g., workplace victimization, loneliness, romantic relationship satisfaction) of young adults play a role in rumination (as an adult) on past victimization. This preregistered study uses longitudinal data from 1772 Finnish individuals (M = 26.04, SD = 1.57), who were part of a large longitudinal project when they were in Grades 4-9, with a follow-up study conducted over a decade later. Workplace victimization and loneliness in adulthood emerged as key predictors of rumination in adulthood about past victimization. The findings suggest that current adult social relationships are a risk factor for previously victimized individuals to dwell on their victimization as adults, regardless of the extent to which they were victimized in adolescence.

This study applied Random Forest analysis to analyze 360 potential predictors of terrorism justification using data from the World Values Survey across 65 countries. Contrary to narratives that focus exclusively on religious extremism, the findings indicate that terrorism justification is more strongly associated with a worldview characterized by moral flexibility, antisocial values, and anti-democratic sentiment. An analysis of the top predictors revealed three overarching domains: (1) Normalization of Violence, where support for terrorism is closely linked to broader acceptance of aggression in political, interpersonal, and domestic contexts; (2) Moral Flexibility and Rule Violation, where individuals who justify terrorism also endorse dishonest behaviors such as bribery, theft, and fraud; and (3) Religious and Political Authoritarianism, characterized by support for governance based on religious authority and skepticism toward democratic institutions. These findings underscore the need for counter-radicalization strategies that address moral disengagement, promote democratic values, and strengthen trust in democratic governance.

Although previous research has examined the impact of stress on aggressive behavior, the underlying mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. In particular, the mediating roles of sleep quality and social bonds have received limited attention within the context of Chinese society. Drawing on data from 2140 Chinese high school seniors, this study investigates the relationships between stress, sleep quality, social bonds, and aggressive behavior. The results revealed significant associations: stress positively correlated with aggressive behavior and negatively with sleep quality and social bonds, while sleep quality and social bonds were negatively related. Moreover, multiple mediation analyses demonstrated that stress predicted aggression both directly and indirectly through the mediating effects of sleep quality and social bonds. These relationships remained significant after controlling for demographic variables. To further validate these findings, qualitative interviews were conducted until data saturation was reached, reinforcing the proposed mediation pathways and offering deeper insights into the mechanisms involved. The findings are consistent with general strain theory and social bond theory, suggesting that elevated stress and weakened social bonds, either directly or indirectly, contribute to delinquent behavior such as aggression. This study extends existing theoretical frameworks by emphasizing the pivotal mediating roles of sleep quality and social bonds and offers practical implications for reducing adolescent aggression. Furthermore, these research results underscore the importance of targeted interventions aimed at improving sleep quality and strengthening social bonds to mitigate the negative effects of stress on adolescent mental health and behavior.

Anger and aggression are causes of significant suffering. Psychological methods to prevent and reduce anger and aggression have been partially successful; however, there is room for novel interventions, such as those informed by neuroscience. One such intervention is anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), which involves administering a weak electrical current to the brain to stimulate cortical activity. In this meta-analysis, we synthesized 93 effect sizes from 25 sham-controlled experiments. We predicted that tDCS would reduce anger and aggression. The overall results showed no effect of tDCS on anger and aggression (Hedges' g = -0.03, CI = -0.30, 0.24). Separate meta-analyses of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex showed no effects of tDCS. The meta-analysis was limited by low power in the source articles (average power = 0.33); No study reached the sufficient sample size to detect a medium effect. Thus, there is room for more well-powered research on the topic to determine whether tDCS may reduce aggression.

Neural bases of aggression have been analysed mainly in rodent males, finding that the medial preoptic area (mPOA), bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) ventromedial hypothalamus (VMH), anterior hypothalamus (AHN), and medial amygdala (MeA) integrate the core aggression circuit. The neural regulation of territorial aggression in females has been little explored, despite the fact they can be as territorial as males. In this study using the c-Fos protein as a marker of neural activity, we analysed whether mPOA, BNST, AHN, VMH, and MeA are activated after an aggressive encounter in the female Djungarian hamster (Phodopus campbelli). Twenty females and 20 males were paired for 15 days. Mating was used as a factor in induced territoriality. The couples were organized into two groups with 10 couples each; in 10 of these pairs, females were subjected to resident intruder tests, while in the other 10 pairs, the females were not confronted. Before mating the males of both groups were vasectomized to prevent that their partners from becoming pregnant. This was done to separate territorial aggression from maternal aggression. All females Djungarian hamster subjected to resident intruder tests displayed territorial aggression. The results of this study showed that mPOA, BNST, VMH, AHN, and MeA were activated in confronted females of Djungarian hamster. In male rodents, these neuronal nuclei are also activated after confrontation, supporting the hypothesis that there is a homology at the neural level in the regulation of aggressive behavior between males and females.

Suicidality and physical aggression are leading, related youth public health concerns. Yet, whether adolescents who harm themselves, others, or both differ emotionally and etiologically remains unclear. To address this, adolescents from a prospective population-based birth cohort reported their suicidality, physical aggression, depression/anxiety symptoms, anger, and callousness (N = 1637). Distinct latent harm-emotion profiles were identified, which were linked to perinatal and childhood experiences. A six-profile solution was retained: Low harm (79.5%), moderate suicidality (6.5%), high suicidality (2%), high aggression (2.5%), moderate aggression (8.5%), and high suicidality and aggression (dual harm; 1%). Elevated harm profiles were compared to the low-harm group. Moderate/high suicidality profiles showed slight elevations in physical aggression. All elevated harm profiles expressed higher negative emotionality. Dual harm and aggression groups reported higher callousness, while suicidality groups reported lower callousness. Aggression profiles were 75% male, suicidality profiles were 21% male, while the low and dual-harm profiles were more similarly mixed sex (47% vs. 63% male, respectively). Low-harm youth experienced more positive childhood parenting. The dual harm and high aggression groups had more deviant childhood best friends, while the dual harm and moderate aggression groups had lower early life household income. The moderate suicidality group had fathers with higher depressive symptoms during infancy and childhood. Thus, one in five youth showed relatively elevated suicidality and/or physical aggression; of which, 95% tended to have a primary target (themselves or others). Early life economic, parental, and peer support may be key for preventing suicidal and aggressive outcomes in adolescence.

While numerous meta-analyses, reviews, and task forces from various scientific bodies have linked violent media use to aggression, some studies report null effects and claim that such a relationship is non-existent. Several scholars have noted that potential methodological and statistical errors could explain failures to replicate these effects. One recent failure to replicate established violent video game effects (Przybylski and Weinstein 2019) has made its data set publicly available, thereby offering a unique opportunity to examine the hypothesis that methodological and statistical problems underlie some replication failures. The present study re-examined the original results from Przybylski and Weinstein (2019) using more appropriate analyses and replicated those results with recalculated, corrected, and more theoretically appropriate variables. The first part examines issues within the original study, including problems with the measure used to assess aggression, statistical control, and the measurement of exposure to video game violence (VGV). The second part created a more standard measure of VGV exposure to test whether the null result stemmed from this measurement issue. Overall, results demonstrate that conceptual misunderstandings of aggression, poor measures regarding both aggression and video game violence exposure, and inappropriate statistical procedures contributed to the initially reported null results. Furthermore, by using improved materials (including a more sophisticated coding scheme to assess exposure to violent video games) and sound statistical analysis (correcting for overcontrol), the data replicate the long-established relationship between playing violent video games and aggressive behavior.

There is ample evidence supporting developmental differences in overall rates of both physical and relational aggression. However, research evaluating developmental trends in specific acts of aggression across measures is limited, particularly in early childhood. A better understanding of what specific acts of aggression are more common in early childhood could inform assessment and identify specific behavioral targets for early prevention and intervention efforts. The current study advances extant literature by examining teacher reported rates of specific acts of aggression in samples of early childhood youth from United States and Aotearoa New Zealand. Specifically, in the U.S. sample (N = 322, 56.5% male), differences in rates in specific acts of physical and relational aggression (and gender differences) were compared across preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. To further evaluate specific acts of aggression in early childhood, the New Zealand sample (N = 200, 51.5% male) examined age differences in preschoolers (2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds) on acts of aggression delineated by both form (physical and relational) and function (proactive and reactive) as well as gender differences. Utilizing different measures, findings indicated that while acts of aggression that require more cognitive and verbal skills occurred at high rates among older youth, overall, percentages of physical aggression were consistent across ages/grade in both early childhood samples. Boys exhibited higher percentages of physical aggression than girls, as expected. However, gender differences in relational aggression were not consistent across the samples. Data from both countries support the importance of examining specific acts of aggression.

Previous research has implicated delayed visual attention to relevant social cues as characteristic of aggressive youth and adults, suggesting that aggression may, in part, result from utilizing hostile schemas rather than available social information when interpreting ambiguous events. The current study used a manipulation-of-attention task to test the causal role of attentional biases in children's appraisal of ambiguous provocations. Sixty-six 4th- through 7th-grade children (30 boys; M = 11.5 years) viewed video clips of ambiguous provocation after being cued to maintain visual attention on either the provocateur or victim and answered questions measuring hostile intent attribution and expected anger of the victim. Data were also collected regarding the children's aggressive behavior and peer victimization. Results showed that directing attention to the provocateur when watching scenes of ambiguous physical provocation led to less hostile interpretations and lower anger scores, as compared to when attention was directed to the victim. Additional analyses suggested that this effect was specific to children who were high in physical peer victimization, particularly when they were also high in reactive aggression. This study has important implications for understanding how automatic processing of information contributes to the development of anger and aggression.

The purpose of this study was to examine early adolescent trajectories of bullying/peer-aggression in terms of their prevalence, composition, and ability to correlate with concurrent delinquency. Three hypotheses were tested in a group of 1145 middle school students (49.6% male; mean age = 11.23 years) using longitudinal data spread out over three waves. The first hypothesis predicted that bullying/peer-aggression victimization would be significantly more prevalent and frequent than bullying/peer-aggression perpetration. The second hypothesis held that a semiparametric sequential process growth mixture modeling (GMM) analysis for two latent variables would identify pure victim and mixed victim-perpetrator trajectories but no pure perpetrator trajectories. The third hypothesis asserted that the trajectory models identified in the GMM analysis would differentially correlate with a change in delinquency, such that accelerating trajectories would be associated with a rise in delinquency and decelerating trajectories with a drop in delinquency. Analyses provided support for all three hypotheses: victimization was significantly more prevalent and frequent than perpetration; there were no pure perpetration trajectories, even after increasing the number of trajectories from 6 to 9; and accelerating trajectories were associated with a significant rise in delinquency from Wave 1 to Wave 3 and decelerating trajectories with a marginally significant decrease in delinquency from Wave 1 to Wave 3. These results highlight the value of studying change in the perpetration and victimization of peer-aggression as a way of understanding how bullying/peer aggression in early adolescence develops and contributes to the formation of other problems, such as delinquency.

Driving anger and aggressive anger expression are prevalent in China, leading to road crashes. While potential associations between metacognitive beliefs about worry and control, anger rumination, and anger expression have been reported, limited research focuses on these relationships within the context of driving anger. This study aims to examine the associations between metacognition, anger rumination, driving-related anger (trait driving anger and aggressive anger expression) and crash risk (traffic penalty points and crash involvement), along with testing the psychometric properties of the Measure for Angry Drivers (MAD) among Chinese drivers. Participants ( ) completed the MAD, the short form of the Metacognition Questionnaire (MCQ-30), the Anger Rumination Scale (ARS), the short version of the Driving Anger Expression Inventory (DAX), and several questions related to their demographic background, traffic violations and crash involvements. A three-factor structure comprising 23 items of MAD was confirmed (Danger posed by others, Travel delays and Aggression from others), demonstrating good reliability, convergent validity, and criterion validity. Additionally, drivers who were involved in crashes in the past 3 years reported higher total MAD scores. The structural model revealed that trait driving anger influenced anger rumination both directly and indirectly through increased maladaptive metacognitive beliefs. Also, trait driving anger and anger rumination jointly contributed to aggressive anger expression, which in turn significantly predicted crash risk. The current findings demonstrate that the Chinese version of MAD is appropriate for assessing trait driving anger and the necessity of regulating anger rumination and aggressive expressions by modifying maladaptive metacognitive beliefs.

For decades, empathy has been hypothesized as a protective factor against bullying. However, this hypothesis is mainly supported by cross-sectional studies, while longitudinal research on bullying and empathy is still scarce. The present study aimed to fill this gap by conducting random-intercept cross-lagged panel models of the relations between cognitive and affective empathy and bullying behaviors across three-time points each separated by 5 months, separately for boys and girls. Results from 1228 elementary school students (52.92% boys; Mage = 10.19, SD = 1.13) indicated that the associations between bullying and empathy are different for boys and girls. For boys, cognitive and affective empathy are negatively associated with bullying at the between level. At the within level, the only significant cross-lagged path indicated that a positive deviation from the expected score of cognitive empathy at baseline predicted a positive deviation from the expected score in bullying behavior 5 months later. For girls, there were no associations between empathy and bullying at either the within- or between-level. This study calls for further clarification of the direction of the relation between bullying and empathy before incorporating it into prevention programs.

The appraisal-oriented Status Pursuit in Narcissism (SPIN) model suggests that narcissists show rivalry-oriented behavior when they lack social affirmation, but behave prosocially when admired. Aiming to integrate emotional responses into this perspective, this study investigated whether narcissistic rage and pride accounted for narcissists' direct and displaced aggression and prosociality following social feedback. Participants (N = 371) experienced either Low Social Validation or High Social Validation in a simulated social media context. After reporting their emotions, they sent "Dislikes" and "Likes" to either the Same Peers (i.e., direct responses) who had given social feedback or to Different Peers (i.e., displaced responses). Results showed that narcissistic rivalry predicted more narcissistic rage following Low Social Validation, which subsequently predicted more "Dislikes" and fewer "Likes" toward both Same Peers and Different Peers. Narcissistic admiration predicted both more "Dislikes" and more "Likes" via pride across social feedback and peer group conditions. This study suggests that narcissistic rage stemming from narcissistic rivalry accounts for aggression following social failures, while pride stemming from narcissistic admiration accounts for prosociality regardless of social feedback experiences.

Homophobic cyberbullying and other forms of anti-LGBTQ+ bias among adolescents are an emerging and concerning form of online bias-based aggression. However, little research has explored its prevalence and correlates. This study aims to address this gap by investigating homophobic cyberbullying through the theoretical lens of a socioecological stigma framework. Specifically, it examines the association between individual factors (socio-emotional competencies), contextual factors (homophobic social norms), and homophobic cyberbullying. Additionally, it explores the moderating effect of socio-emotional competencies on the relationship between homophobic social norms and social dominance orientation on homophobic cyberbullying. Parallel (in-school and online) survey samples (N = 3807) were collected among Italian youth (M = 16.69; SD = 1.97). A series of multiple linear regression models with two-way and three-way interaction effects were tested. Descriptive results indicated that heterosexual boys reported higher rates of homophobic cyberbullying. The regression analysis demonstrated that socio-emotional competencies were negatively associated with homophobic cyberbullying, whereas homophobic social norms were positively related to it. Furthermore, socio-emotional competencies mitigated the impact of homophobic social norms on the relationship between social dominance orientation and homophobic cyberbullying. The study underscores the urgent need for evidence-based interventions that challenge and reshape gendered and heteronormative beliefs perpetuating homophobic cyberbullying, particularly among adolescent heterosexual boys, by encouraging critical reflection on masculinity and sexuality within educational settings and peer networks.

The dynamic, longitudinal interplay between caregiving environmental risk (e.g., caregiver postnatal substance use and psychological symptoms, caregiving instability, exposure to violence) and child aggression is not well understood, particularly for substance-exposed children. A random intercept cross-lagged panel model was used to examine within- and between-family variability in the reciprocal relations between caregiving environmental risk and child aggression from infancy to kindergarten age, and their contribution to early adolescent aggression, with prenatal substance exposure as an exogenous predictor, controlling for maternal education, child sex, and peer delinquency. The sample included 216 mother-child dyads (49% boys; 57.6% African American). Multimethod assessments were conducted at infancy, toddlerhood, early-preschool, late-preschool, kindergarten, and early adolescence. Positive cross-lagged effects from child aggression to caregiving environmental risk revealed that after a temporary increase in aggression, children were exposed to more caregiving environmental risk a year later. Positive reciprocal paths from caregiving environmental risk at infancy and toddlerhood to child aggression a year later indicated that children had increased aggression at toddlerhood and early preschool when exposed to higher-than-expected levels of caregiving environmental risk the year prior. In contrast, caregiving environmental risk at early preschool and late preschool did not relate to child aggression a year later and caregiving environmental risk at kindergarten did not relate to early adolescent aggression. Findings highlight the ways in which child behavior impacts caregiving environmental risk and have implications for identifying and intervening with early childhood aggression and the contexts in which it occurs.

The association between peer stress and self-directed violence has been supported by various studies, but the mechanisms underlying the association are still unclear, especially for left-behind adolescents. In addition, most of the existing studies have neglected the negative interpersonal consequences of self-directed violence. Based on the transactional model of development and relative deprivation theory, this study examined the reciprocal relationship between peer stress and self-directed violence in left-behind and non-left-behind adolescents, as well as the bidirectional mediating role of relative deprivation. A total of 1258 adolescents (683 left-behind adolescents) participated in this 10-month study with three consecutive follow-ups. Results of cross-lagged analyzes revealed that for left-behind adolescents but not non-left-behind adolescents: first, there is a vicious bidirectional cycle of peer stress and self-directed violence; second, this cycle is mediated by relative deprivation; and third, both the vicious cycle and the mediation remain consistent across different genders or educational stages. The findings highlight the need to focus on challenges such as peer stress and self-directed violence among left-behind adolescents and suggest that interventions targeting relative deprivation may break the vicious cycle between peer stress and self-directed violence in this subgroup.