Poor Parenting on Underage Drinking Through Frustration and Impulsivity

Underage drinking continues to be a perilous social problem in the United States with its numerous negative consequences. Contributing to our understanding of this issue, the current study examined the relationship between poor parenting, frustration, impulsivity, and underage drinking. Based on the theoretical framework of Agnew’s general strain theory (GST), this study tested three structural models with national youth data ( N = 5,030). Results showed that poor parenting had a significant influence on frustration, impulsivity, and underage drinking. Particularly, frustration and impulsivity mediated the relationship between poor parenting and underage drinking. Further, impulsivity played a crucial role in GST. Additionally, an alternative model with a potential mediator (i.e., impulsivity) will provide insight to further our understanding of underage drinking.

Economic Strain and Adolescent Violence. Are extracurricular activities a conditioning effect?

This article examines the extent to which participation in sports acts as a conditioning effect to the relationship between economic disadvantage and adolescent violent delinquency. Deriving hypotheses from general strain and social control theories, we use data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to test if type of extracurricular activity participation diminishes the risk of economic disadvantage on violent delinquency. In support of social control theory, the direct effect of academic clubs and performing arts is negatively associated with adolescent violence. Additionally, analyses indicate that participation in contact sports decreases the relationship economic disadvantage and violent delinquency when other strain controls are added including race/ethnicity, family structure, lack of parental supervision, etc. Overall findings are expected of the social control conditioning effect of general strain theory.

A Test of General Strain Theory: Explaining Intimate Partner Violence and Alcohol Use Among Black Women

Using a sample of 291 Black women and a longitudinal study, we explore how general strain theory can broaden our understanding of Black women’s alcohol use and intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetration. Results demonstrated that racial discrimination, past IPV and sexual victimization, and family member’s victimization heightened depression, which increased heavy alcohol use. Discrimination and family victimization also elevated anger, leading to greater IPV perpetration. Results further revealed that depression and anger interacted to influence IPV. Researchers, practitioners, and policymakers must continue to pursue culturally sensitive practices to effectively address this unique constellation of strains and advocate for the needs of Black women.

Explaining Latinx Youth Delinquency: A Gendered Test of Latinx General Strain Theory

Recently, scholars have reintroduced a Latinx general strain theory in which it is suggested that ethnic-specific strains, including acculturation, are driving forces for criminal and delinquent behaviors among the Latinx population. Using data collected from the Dating Violence Among Latino Adolescents (DAVILA) Study, this study investigated whether these ethnic strains influenced delinquency differently based on the respondent's gender. Results indicate that boys engaged in more delinquent behaviors than girls, whereas girls were more acculturated than boys. Depression, anxiety, and social support were more prevalent among girls than among boys. In addition, girls were more likely to be enculturated and perform better in school than boys. Acculturation did not significantly predict delinquency for either boys or girls. In contrast, polyvictimization was the only variable to consistently predict delinquency among boys and girls. Results provided partial support for the hypotheses, in that, while depression and anxiety varied by gender as predicted by the gendered general strain theory, the ethnic-specific strain of acculturation failed to predict delinquent behavior in this sample. Ultimately, this study highlights the need to examine other ethnic-specific strains to better understand delinquent behavior among Latinx youth.

An Exploratory Study of COVID-19’s Impact on Psychological Distress and Antisocial Behavior Among Justice-Involved Youth

Little is known about how justice-involved youth are coping with stress related to COVID-19. This study examined changes in psychological distress and antisocial behavior indicators among 557 youths on probation who completed two assessments during pre-COVID-19 conditions and two assessments during post-COVID-19 conditions. Drawing from Agnew’s General Strain Theory, the study used multivariate latent growth models to examine: (a) changes in psychological distress and antisocial behavior over time, (b) the associations of the changes, and (c) differences across sex, race, and ethnicity regarding changes in psychological distress. In support of General Strain Theory, results highlight that indicators of psychological distress and antisocial behavior increased during post-COVID-19 conditions when compared to pre-COVID-19 conditions for the full sample and for subsamples of youth categorized by sex, race, and ethnicity.

Relationships between job stress, psychological adaptation, negative affective states and Internet gaming disorder among migrant factory workers in China: cross-sectional survey (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Factory workers make up a large proportion of China’s internal migrants and may be highly susceptible to Internet gaming disorder (IGD). However, little research on IGD has been conducted in this population. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the prevalence and potential factors of IGD among migrant factory workers in China. Furthermore, it aims to examine a mediation model based on the framework of the general strain model among migrant factory workers. METHODS A stratified multi-stage sampling approach was used for recruitment. In the first stage, the research team randomly selected 16 factories in Longhua district, and then randomly selected three to four workshops from each factory. All full-time employees aged ≥18 years in the selected workshops were invited to participate in the study. A total of 2,023 factory workers completed a self-administered questionnaire between October and December 2019. Structural equation modeling was conducted to test the proposed mediation model. RESULTS Most of the participants (67.3%) were male, aged 35 years old or below (71.7%), and without teritary education (91%). The prevalence of probable depression, probable anxiety, and IGD was 39.3%, 28.7%, and 7.5%. Being male, younger age, and shorter duration of living in Shenzhen were associated with higher IGD scores. Job stress was significantly associated with IGD (B=.02, β=.11, p=.01) but not with negative affective states (B=.04, β=.01, p=.77). Psychological adaptation was significantly associated with negative affective states (B=-2.93, β=-.37, p<.001) but not with IGD (B=.04, β=.09, p>.05). Negative affective states were positively associated with IGD (B=.02, β=.27, p<.001). The indirect effect of psychological adaptation (B=-.05, β=-.10, 95%CI=-.14 to -.07, p=.004) but not job stress (B=.001, β=.003, 95%CI=-.02 to .03, p=.76) on IGD through negative affective states was statistically significant. The significant indirect effect and insignificant direct effect of psychological adaptation on IGD suggested a full mediation effect of negative affective states. CONCLUSIONS This study provides evidence for applying the general strain model to understand IGD among migrant factory workers. Efforts to prevent negative affective states, IGD and other risk behaviors in this special and huge population in China are in urgent need. The observed psychological factors and mechanisms are modifiable, and can inform the design of evidence-based prevention programs for IGD in this population.

Do Negative Emotions Matter? Paths From Victimization to Cyber and Traditional Bullying From a General Strain Theory Perspective

Drawing on theoretical propositions of general strain theory (GST), the current study aims to examine whether general victimization as a source of criminogenic strain predicts two different types of bullying, traditional and cyberbullying perpetrations, and whether negative emotionality, such as trait-based anger and depression, conditions the effects of general victimization on bullying. Using a Korean adolescent sample, we adopt cross-lagged dynamic panel models to investigate the longitudinal effects and interactions of strain and negative emotionality. The results indicate a significant influence of general victimization on both types of bullying perpetrations, as expected, while the conditioning effects of negative emotionality are found only for traditional bullying, which may reflect differences in the nature of the two different forms of bullying.

On the consistency of two-phase local/nonlocal piezoelectric integral model

In this paper, we propose general strain- and stress-driven two-phase local/nonlocal piezoelectric integral models, which can distinguish the difference of nonlocal effects on the elastic and piezoelectric behaviors of nanostructures. The nonlocal piezoelectric model is transformed from integral to an equivalent differential form with four constitutive boundary conditions due to the difficulty in solving intergro-differential equations directly. The nonlocal piezoelectric integral models are used to model the static bending of the Euler-Bernoulli piezoelectric beam on the assumption that the nonlocal elastic and piezoelectric parameters are coincident with each other. The governing differential equations as well as constitutive and standard boundary conditions are deduced. It is found that purely strain- and stress-driven nonlocal piezoelectric integral models are ill-posed, because the total number of differential orders for governing equations is less than that of boundary conditions. Meanwhile, the traditional nonlocal piezoelectric differential model would lead to inconsistent bending response for Euler-Bernoulli piezoelectric beam under different boundary and loading conditions. Several nominal variables are introduced to normalize the governing equations and boundary conditions, and the general differential quadrature method (GDQM) is used to obtain the numerical solutions. The results from current models are validated against results in the literature. It is clearly established that a consistent softening and toughening effects can be obtained for static bending of the Euler-Bernoulli beam based on the general strain- and stress-driven local/nonlocal piezoelectric integral models, respectively.

"The Worst Place in the World for Women"

This paper explores the nature of conflict-related sexual violence committed by the State Armed Forces (FARDC) in the Democratic Republic of Congo, through the application of the general strain theory. Findings show that sexual violence committed by the FARDC is commonly used as a form of personal catharsis and emotional release from perceived strains, as opposed to resulting from sexual desires or external institutional pressures. Further, the most influential contextual elements present in the local context of the FARDC, and which particularly encourage the propagation of sexual violence, include female FARDC soldiers receiving desired military positions, the centrality of strains to personal notions of masculinity and aspirations, the dismantling of social cohesion through patronage networks, and a lack of behavioural coping options. In turn, these factors reduce the efficiency of non-criminal coping strategies. Hence, interventions aimed at reducing the propagation of conflict-related sexual violence may benefit from more bottom-up and inductive approaches improving the individual circumstances of soldiers as opposed to solely focusing upon organisational change and military reform.