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We examined the relationship between young adults' perceptions of parental rejection and endorsement of aggression. A structural model was developed and tested in which the mediating roles of insecure adult attachment and emotional dysregulation were examined in a large sample of college students (N=541). Results indicated that perceived father and mother rejection had indirect effects on selfreported aggression via insecure adult attachment and emotional dysregulation. Insecure adult attachment also mediated the relationships between perceived mother (full mediation) and father (partial mediation) rejection and emotional dysregulation. Both emotional dysregulation and insecure adult attachment had direct effects on aggression in the final model; however, insecure adult attachment had a considerably stronger effect. Analyses also revealed no gender differences among the study variables in the structural model. It is concluded that parental relationships, attachment security, and emotional functioning may play integral roles in young adult aggressive behavior. Implications and future research are discussed.

Although problems with emotion regulation (ER) have long been associated with internalizing symptoms, only recently has an ER framework been applied to the study of aggression. Therefore, little is known about the unique and independent associations between specific domains of the ER construct and different kinds of aggressive tendencies. We sought to explore these associations in two independent samples of young adults. Furthermore, we tested whether gender moderated the proposed emotion dysregulation-aggression link. Our results corroborated the association between emotion dysregulation and aggression in both samples. Specifically, the inability to control impulsive behavior when upset (i.e., negative urgency) was uniquely related to physical aggression, verbal aggression, anger, and hostility. Limited access to ER strategies was also significantly associated with overall aggression and hostility. The effect of negative urgency on physical and verbal aggression was stronger among males than females, although only in one sample.

Emotional dysregulation was explored as a mediator of the relationship between perceived father rejection and young adult male and female aggression. Among undergraduate college students (N = 534), emotional dysregulation was assessed as a combined construct and then as distinct components. Analyses revealed that impulsivity mediated the relationship between perceived father rejection and aggression for both males and females. Nonacceptance of emotions was partially supported as a mediator of the perceived father rejection–aggression relationship among males, but not females. Results suggest that although father–child relationships may contribute to a variety of emotion regulation difficulties, impulsivity may play an integral role in the development of aggression. Researchers and clinicians are encouraged to pay particular attention to the process by which impulsivity may influence aggression for father-rejected sons and daughters, with additional attention to nonacceptance of emotions for sons. Limitations and future research recommendations are discussed.

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