Favini Ainzara, Lunetti Carolina, Virzì Alessia Teresa, Cannito Loreta, Culcasi Flavia, Quarto Tiziana, Palladino Paola
Department of Humanities, University of Foggia, 71121 Foggia, Italy.
Faculty of Education Sciences, Guglielmo Marconi University, 00193 Rome, Italy.
Behav Sci (Basel). 2024 Sep 4;14(9):776. doi: 10.3390/bs14090776.
Self-regulatory self-efficacy belief (i.e., SRSE) represents a fundamental factor for adjustment in adolescence, as a vehicle to promote positive behaviors and protect youths from transgressions and maladjustment. Research attested that, during adolescence, boys are more vulnerable to externalizing behaviors than girls, especially when they perceive themselves as scarcely capable of managing and orienting their behaviors and when they possess impairments in impulsivity. Previous studies firmly supported the crucial role of SRSE, especially in the offline context in adolescence. Still, very few studies investigated its impact in the online context, although nowadays, the Internet represents one of the most significant environments for youths' daily lives. Thus, we aimed to examine the protective moderating role of SRSE in online and offline aggressive behaviors beyond youths' temperamental vulnerabilities, such as high impulsivity. A sample of 318 Italian adolescents (M = 15.21; = 0.51; 57% boys; 40% girls; 3% third gender) were asked to complete the Impulsivity Scale at Wave 1, online and offline aggressive behaviors scales at Wave 2, and SRSE at Wave 2. The multiple-group-by-gender moderation model evidenced that, for what concerns online aggression, beyond the direct effects of impulsivity in boys and girls, SRSE directly affected online aggression and mediated the effect of impulsivity in girls. In contrast, impulsivity significantly affected offline aggressive behaviors only indirectly through the impact of SRSE, and SRSE directly influenced these behaviors in both genders. These results hold for the effects of youth's age, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and years of education completed. This work preliminary evidenced that, contrary to previous studies which focused mainly on the vulnerability of boys to aggressive conduct, impulsivity had direct effects on online aggressive behaviors in girls, and SRSE can protect adolescents of both genders in the online context by predicting low online aggression and represents a protective factor from the indirect effects that impulsivity impairments can also have in the offline context.
自我调节自我效能信念（即SRSE）是青少年适应过程中的一个基本因素，它是促进积极行为、保护青少年避免违规和适应不良的一种手段。研究证明，在青少年时期，男孩比女孩更容易出现外化行为，尤其是当他们认为自己几乎没有能力管理和引导自己的行为，以及存在冲动控制障碍时。以往的研究有力地支持了SRSE的关键作用，尤其是在青少年的线下环境中。然而，尽管如今互联网是青少年日常生活中最重要的环境之一，但很少有研究调查其在网络环境中的影响。因此，我们旨在研究SRSE在青少年气质性易感性（如高冲动性）之外，对线上和线下攻击行为的保护性调节作用。我们邀请了318名意大利青少年（平均年龄M = 15.21岁；标准差 = 0.51岁；57%为男孩；40%为女孩；3%为第三性别）参与研究，他们在第1阶段完成冲动性量表，在第2阶段完成线上和线下攻击行为量表，以及SRSE量表。多组性别调节模型表明，对于网络攻击行为而言，除了冲动性对男孩和女孩的直接影响外，SRSE直接影响网络攻击行为，并在女孩中调节了冲动性的影响。相比之下，冲动性仅通过SRSE的影响间接显著影响线下攻击行为，而SRSE直接影响了两性的这些行为。这些结果在青少年的年龄、性取向、社会经济地位和受教育年限方面均成立。这项工作初步证明，与以往主要关注男孩攻击行为易感性的研究不同，冲动性对女孩的网络攻击行为有直接影响，而SRSE可以通过预测低网络攻击行为，在网络环境中保护两性青少年，并且是防止冲动控制障碍在离线环境中产生间接影响的保护因素。
