Family cohesion and disruptive behavior among school adolescents: the mediating role of self-regulation

Abstract

Adolescents’ disruptive behavior has become a global challenge. Even though the family environment has a considerable impact on adolescent disruptive behavior, this area has remained a blind spot in Ethiopian research. Hence, the present study was aimed at examining how family cohesion impacts adolescents’ disruptive behavior using adolescents’ self-regulation as a mediating variable. Data were collected from 304 adolescent students (155 males, 149 females) using ‘the Problem Behavior Frequency Questionnaire’, ‘Family Cohesion Scale’, and ‘The adolescents’ self-regulation inventory’. Correlational analysis, path analysis, and t-test were employed to examine relationships and differences. The statistical analysis yielded that disruptive behavior negatively correlated with family cohesion and self-regulation. However, the path analysis showed insignificant direct and indirect impacts of family cohesion on adolescents’ disruptive behavior. This suggests that though family cohesion is vital in shielding adolescents from engaging in various disruptive behaviors, it may be ineffective if other family environment processes including family communication, control, and conflict resolution skills do not accompany it. Disruptive behavior among adolescents differed significantly by gender, with males more likely to engage in disruptive behavior than females.