Linking social-environmental risk factors with aggression in suburban adolescents: The role of social-cognitive mediators

Previous research suggests that social-cognitive factors mediate the association between social-environmental risk and aggression in high-risk samples, but less is known about the relation among these factors in suburban youth. The present study examined whether such an association occurred for suburban youth exposed to low levels of social rejection and community violence. Using data from 184 adolescents (mean age = 14.97 years, SD = .84) and their homeroom teachers, analyses with structural equation modeling revealed a significant relation between relatively mild levels of social-environmental risk and aggression. This association was partially mediated by negatively biased social-cognitive factors (i.e., general knowledge structures and social information processing). Findings suggest that even relatively low levels of social rejection and community violence exposure characterizing suburban youth (in contrast to urban youth) put them at an increased risk for problems with aggression.