The Effect of Grit on Aggression in Adolescents with Delinquency Experience: The Mediating Effect of Depression

Abstract

Although the number of crimes committed by youth has decreased, it cannot be concluded that it has decreased when the number of youth is taken into account. The type of crime is very violent and brutal, and the recidivism rate is also high, making the problem of youth crime even more serious. The main cause of juvenile delinquency is aggression, and in order to reduce juvenile delinquency, it is necessary to pay attention to aggression and prepare measures to reduce it. Among various factors that reduce aggression, studies have reported that grit, a concept similar to resilience, reduces depression and aggression. Therefore, in this study, we tried to verify that depression would have a mediating effect in the process of grit affecting aggression. As a result of the study, it was found that grit had a negative effect on depression, and depression had a positive effect on aggression. In addition, it was found that grit had a negative effect on aggression, and in the end, it was found that depression had a mediating effect in the process of grit affecting aggression. Also, in the results of bootstrapping to verify the mediating effect, it was found that grit affects aggression through depression.