The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experiences And Violent Behavior Among Junior High School Students: The Mediating Role Of Aggressive Motivation

Violent behavior is defined as an act in which an individual deliberately uses his or her body,speech,tools,or other means to harm others or groups and cause physical and psychological harm.As the name implies,violent behavior of junior high school students refers to violence committed by junior high pupils.There are numerous incidents of violence committed by junior high school students all over the world.At the same time,this type of violence will cause a slew of problems and have far-reaching consequences for victims,perpetrators,families,schools,and society.As a result,it is critical to investigate the influencing factors and potential motivation mechanisms of violent behavior of junior high school students in order to analyze and comprehend the causes and development of violent behavior of junior high school students.Simultaneously,violent behavior among junior high school students’ prevention and intervention can provide valuable and scientific guidance.Among junior high school students,there are numerous and complex factors that promote the development of violent behavior,and adverse childhood experiences are regarded as one of the most important factors influencing the development of violent behavior.Adverse childhood experiences are the various harmful experiences that people have from birth to the age of 18,which directly or potentially harm their physical and mental health.It includes child abuse(e.g.,emotional neglect,physical neglect,emotional abuse,physical abuse,sexual abuse),family dysfunction(e.g.,domestic violence,living with a mentally ill or suicidal household member,parental death,separation,or divorce,living with a substance abuser,living with an imprisoned household member),and violence outside the home(e.g.,bullying,witnessing community violence,war/collective violence).Junior high school students who have had these negative experiences are thought to be more likely to commit violence against others.Despite numerous studies on the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and violent behavior among junior high school students,some issues merit further investigation.First,it is unclear what potential aggressive motivation factors exist between adverse childhood experiences and violent behavior.Second,it is unknown which aggressive motivation factors play the most important role in promoting.Exploration of the intrinsic aggressive motivation factors between the above two relationships can not only provide important practical implications for the prevention and intervention of violent behavior among junior high school students but also play a guiding and illuminating role in family and school education for junior high school students.Based on this,this study approaches aggressive motivation and employs two studies to investigate and explain the potential aggressive motivation mechanism between adverse childhood experiences and violent behavior among junior high school students.In Study 1,questionnaires were used to test the potential aggressive motivation between adverse childhood experiences and violent behavior.The Adverse Childhood Experience-International Questionnaire,the Anger Aggression Scale,the Moral Disengagement Scale,the Aggression Outcome Expectancy Questionnaire,and the Youth Violent Behavior Questionnaire were administered to 997 middle school students.According to the rules(that is,all options select the same number),3 invalid questionnaires were eliminated,leaving 994 valid questionnaires(99.7%).There were489 boys(49.2%)and 505 girls(50.8%).There were 485 students in grade 1(48.8%)and 509 students in grade 2(51.2%).For data analysis in Study 1,SPSS and Mplus were used.The findings revealed that thrill-seeking,moral disengagement,and positive outcome expectancy for aggression all played an important mediating role in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and violent behavior.The mediation model fits well,with the following indexes: x2=363.240,df=170,x2/df=2.154,p<0.001,RMSEA=0.034,CFI=0.984,TLI=0.980,SRMR=0.040.The point estimates for adverse childhood experiences indirectly predicting violent behavior via moral disengagement,positive outcome expectancy for aggression,and thrill-seeking were 0.019,0.027,and 0.049,respectively,with 95% confidence intervals of [0.001,0.038],[0.008,0.046],and [0.025,0.072].To validate and expand the findings of Study 1,subjects with high Adverse Childhood Experience-International Questionnaire scores(the subjects were ranked in the top 70 in all questionnaire,scoring between 58 and 77,with the highest score being 77)and subjects with high violent behavior Questionnaire scores(the subjects were ranked in the top 70 in all questionnaire,scoring between 18 and 45,with the highest score being 45)were interviewed.Finally,16 subjects were chosen,with 8 males(50%)and8 females(50%)participating.Nvivo was used in Study 2 to encode the interview data.The findings revealed 14 categories of driving factors for junior high school students who had high-level adverse childhood experiences and high-level violence before committing violence.Positive outcome expectancy for aggression,moral disengagement,and thrill-seeking were the largest and most critical aggressive motivation factors,accounting for 24.78%,12.97%,and 12.10%,respectively.This result validates and expands the findings of Study 1.In summary,the following are the study’s findings:(1)Positive outcome expectancy for aggression,moral disengagement,and thrill-seeking play a significant mediating role in the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and violent behavior;(2)Before committing violent behavior,junior high school students with high-level adverse experiences have many aggressive motivation factors,but the most critical aggressive motivation factor is positive outcome expectancy for aggression,moral disengagement,and thrill-seeking.This study’s findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the intrinsic motivation process that links adverse childhood experiences to violent behavior among junior high school kids in families,schools,and society,as well as to the advancement of aggressive motivation theory.Simultaneously,the prevention and intervention of violence among junior high school children,as well as the education of families,schools,and society,provide significant motivation.It can play a substantial role in reducing violence among junior high school pupils.