Front Psychol. 2025 Oct 22;16:1605677. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1605677. eCollection 2025.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Aggressive behavior in secondary school students significantly affects their mental health, academic performance, and social adjustment. Parent-child relationships and caring teacher behaviors are recognized as key influences. However, most existing studies employ a cross-sectional design, limiting their ability to reveal dynamic causal relationships among variables.
PURPOSE: This study aimed to examine the longitudinal mechanisms underlying the interactions between parent-child relationships, caring teacher behaviors, and aggression in middle school students using a cross-lagged model.
METHODS: Data were collected from 824 junior and senior high school students in Shandong Province using a longitudinal design, with a two-stage follow-up survey (one semester apart) employing the Aggression Behavior Scale, the Parent-Child Relationship Scale, and the Teacher Caring Behavior Scale. Correlation analyses and cross-lagged modeling tests were performed using SPSS and Amos, with measures taken to control for common method bias.
RESULTS: (1) T1 parent-child relationship significantly negatively predicted T2 aggressive behavior (β = -0.231, p < 0.001), but the reverse path was not significant. (2) T1 teacher caring behaviors significantly negatively predicted T2 aggressive behaviors (β = -0.142, p < 0.001), and T1 parent-child relationships positively influenced T2 teacher caring behaviors (β = 0.097, p = 0.009). (3) Aggressive behavior demonstrated temporal stability (β = 0.114, p = 0.002).
CONCLUSION: Both parent-child relationships and caring teacher behaviors independently mitigate aggression in middle school students, with parent-child relationships potentially exerting an indirect effect by enhancing caring teacher behaviors. These findings highlight the significance of collaborative family-school interventions and offer a theoretical foundation for preventing adolescent behavioral problems.
PMID:41200057 | PMC:PMC12587483 | DOI:10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1605677
