Self-control, social support, and aggression among adolescents in divorced and two-parent families

This study examined aggression in Israeli adolescents from divorced and two-parent families to explore self-control and social support as resources for reducing aggression, and to investigate whether the stress of divorce increases adolescents' aggression. Israeli adolescents from 127 divorced families and 308 two-parent families, completed self-report questionnaires. Major findings were: (1) Parental divorce did not correlate with increases in physical or verbal aggressive acts, but did correlate with significant increases in angry feelings and hostile thoughts (2) Higher levels of self-control and social support were found to mitigate possible adverse effects of parental divorce on adolescents' aggression. Outcomes imply that intervention designed to reduce aggression in adolescents should focus on the acquisition of self-control and the provision of social support.

► This study examined aggression in Israeli adolescents (56). ► The study explored self-control and social support for reducing aggression (77). ► Parental divorce correlated with increases in angry feelings and hostile thoughts (82). ► Self-control mitigated effects of parental divorce on adolescents' aggression (79). ► Social support mitigated effects of parental divorce on adolescents' aggression (81).