Strain, Negative Emotions, Religiosity, and Violence Perpetration in a Sample of Romanian Adolescents

Informed by Agnew’s (1992) general strain theory, the present study examines the impact of three types of strenuous circumstances on violent behavior reported by 10^th graders (N= 3,245) enrolled in 89 high schools in Bucharest, Romania’s capital city. Survey data were collected in 2022 from a stratified random sample, as part of a multi-country study coordinated by Planet Youth Ehf., Iceland. Findings show that more than half (57%) of the study participants acknowledged committing at least one act of violence against another person during the year preceding the survey. The results of the mediation analysis indicate that in the overall sample, all sources of strain (i.e., perceived failure to achieve valued goals, the loss of something of value, and exposure to toxic stimuli, such as emotional, physical, and/or sexual victimization) are associated with negative emotions (anger), which in turn significantly predicted violent behavior. While those whose parents are strict rule enforcers tend to have a higher level of anger, an authoritarian parenting style and parental supervision have significant direct negative effects on violence perpetration. Conversely, violent behavior is more likely to be reported by male adolescents and by those with stronger religious beliefs. Yet additional comparative analyses indicate that the selected predictors do not always have a gender invariant effect. Although religiosity as a potential stress coping mechanism has a non-significant effect and parental monitoring has a violence deterring effect in subsamples differentiated by gender, for girls and those with non-binary gender identities only one source of strain (violent victimization) is conducive to violent behavior. The study limitations and the implications of the findings will be further discussed.