The role of emotion regulation in aggressive behavior at adolescence and emerging adulthood

In this study, the importance of emotion regulation in terms of aggressive behaviors of youths in adolescence and emerging adulthood in which the need for autonomy and independence and emotionality increase was investigated. Previous studies have shown that the development of emotion regulation and aggression are prone to the effects of the parent-child relationship and that emotion regulation of youths explain how the family context is related to adjustment. However, the mediator effect of emotion regulation in adolescence and emerging adulthood have been largely unexamined. The purpose of the current study was to examine the relations between perceived psychological control from mother and father and aggressive behavior (physical and indirect) during the transition to adulthood and the mediator role of emotion regulation in this relationship. The study involved a sample of 1008 students from different high school and universities in Izmir (558 female and 450 male) between the ages of 14-25. Participants completed self-report questionnaires that are Demographic Information Form, anger scale of Emotion Management Scales, Aggression Scale and Psychological Control Scale. Structural Equation Model was used to test the research hypotheses. Results showed that perceived maternal psychological control did not predicted the physical and indirect aggression of females and males directly neither in adolescence nor in emerging adulthood; however, the relationship between maternal psychological control and physical and indirect aggression was explained by the emotion regulation abilities of both female and male in both adolescence and emerging adulthood. Results also indicated that perceived paternal psychological control had deleterious effects especially on females. Paternal psychological control negatively predicted the emotion regulation skill, in turn, physical and indirect aggressive behaviors of adolescent and emerging adult females. In addition to indirect effects of paternal psychological control, results showed that the perceived paternal psychological control positively predicted the physical and indirect aggression of emerging adult females. Results revealed that perceived parental psychological control keep their importance on the psychological functioning of youths in emerging adulthood as well as in adolescence. Also, results indicated that fathers, as well as mothers, may have an considerable effect on the emotional and social problems of youths. Key Words: Emotion Regulation, Aggression, Psychological Control, Physical Aggression, Indirect Aggression