Multi-mediation Model Research Articles

Multiple Facets of Self-Control in Arab Adolescents: Parallel Pathways to Greater Happiness and Less Physical Aggression

Adolescence is a period of dramatic change that necessitates using skills and strengths to reduce physical aggression and increase happiness. This study examined the multiple facets of self-control skills in achieving both goals simultaneously, in a sample of 248 Arab adolescents in Israel. We conceptualized and tested a new multi-mediator model that posited two parallel paths. Structural equation modeling with bootstrap analysis supported the hypothesized model where self-control linked with subjective happiness directly, and indirectly through positive emotions and social support. In addition, self-control linked directly to physical aggression, and indirectly through hostility and anger. The findings provide new theoretical conceptualizations for further research and suggest possible mechanisms for prevention and intervention programs.

Organizational justice: Antecedents and consequences of ghanaian industrial workers

The study tested a model of the antecedents and consequences of organizational justice among Ghanaian industrial workers (N = 320). Justice perceptions were examined in terms of their socio-cultural properties and demographic variables. These variables were examined in terms of their impact as antecedents and consequences of justice evaluations. Antecedents comprised work-related and personal characteristics. Consequences comprised perceived organizational support, organizational citizenship behavior, organizational safety climate, safety behavior, and accident frequency. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to test the hypotheses. Mplus-7 indicated a partial mediation effect in a multi-mediation model. Work-related variables strongly and positively correlated with organizational justice, and were generally better predictors of organizational justice than were personal characteristics. The results have implications to organizational behavior.

A Multimediation Model of Learning by Exporting: Analysis of Export-Induced Productivity Gains

This paper “opens a black box” in examining how and under what conditions do firms achieve productivity gains by exporting, conventionally known as the learning-by-exporting (LBE) effect. We extend the current theoretical paradigm by proposing that exporters utilize strategic decisions pertinent to innovativeness, production capability, and human capital so as to leverage knowledge and resources obtained from exporting in order to achieve productivity gains. We test and validate our hypotheses with panelized data of roughly 250,000 Chinese firms over a 7-year period (2001-2007). We also show that the salience of these mediation mechanisms is contingent upon ownership structure and industry characteristics: Non-state-owned enterprises and firms in industries with medium export intensity or medium and high new product development intensity effectuate more learning through these conduits than their counterparts. The multimediation mechanism LBE model offers useful implications for academia, practitioners, and policy makers.

Elucidating the relation between childhood emotional abuse and depressive symptoms in adulthood: The mediating role of maladaptive interpersonal processes

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to assess the potential unique and relative mediating effects of three interpersonal risk factors (i.e., excessive reassurance-seeking [ERS], negative feedback seeking [NFS], and rejection sensitivity [RS]) in the relationship between childhood emotional abuse (CEA) and depressive symptoms. MethodOne hundred eighty-five undergraduates were followed over a four-month interval. Participants completed assessments of childhood abuse history, ERS, NFS, and RS, and depressive symptoms at baseline, as well as depressive symptoms at four-month followup. ResultsFindings from single-mediator analyses indicated that RS and NFS, but not ERS, mediated the relationship between CEA and prospective depressive symptoms, after accounting for childhood sexual and physical abuse, as well as baseline depressive symptoms. In our multi-mediator model, only RS remained a significant mediator of the relationship between CEA and prospective depressive symptoms. ConclusionsThe current study provides preliminary evidence that negative behavioral styles may function as a mechanism linking prior experiences of CEA to subsequent depressive symptoms. Clinical implications of these findings suggest that targeting maladaptive behavioral tendencies, particularly RS, may be an effective adjunct in behavioral modification treatments of CEA victims at risk for depression.

Posttraumatic Growth in Family Members Living With a Relative Diagnosed With Schizophrenia

Family members living with a relative diagnosed with schizophrenia have reported challenges and traumatic stressors, as well as perceived benefits and personal growth. This study explored factors associated with posttraumatic growth (PTG) within such families. Personality, stress, coping, social support, and PTG were assessed in 110 family members. Results revealed that a multiplicative mediational path model with social support and emotional or instrumental coping strategies as multi-mediators had a significant indirect effect on the relationship between extraversion and PTG. Clinically relevant concepts that map onto the multi-mediator model are discussed, and these findings are translated into clinical practice to facilitate naturally occurring PTG processes.

Physical and psychological maltreatment in childhood and later health problems in women: An exploratory investigation of the roles of perceived stress and coping strategies

ObjectiveThis retrospective, cross-sectional study investigated the association between childhood physical and psychological maltreatment and self-reported physical health concerns in adult women. The mediating roles of perceived stress and coping strategies were examined. MethodsParticipants were 235 women (aged 18–59 years) recruited from the community. Semi-structured interviews and questionnaires were used to assess self-reported childhood maltreatment and current perceived stress, coping strategies, and health status. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. ResultsAfter controlling for a history of child sexual abuse and relevant demographic variables, child physical and psychological maltreatment were significantly associated with greater physical health concerns. Support was found for models in which perceived stress and emotion-focused coping partially mediate the relation between maltreatment and health problems; problem-focused and avoidance coping did not operate as mediators. Multi-mediation model testing indicated that emotion-focused coping and perceived stress together better explain the relationship between child maltreatment and physical health than either variable alone. ConclusionFindings suggest that child maltreatment is an important risk factor for adverse health outcomes in later life and that current stress and coping strategies may influence this relationship. Implications for the physical health of maltreatment survivors are discussed. Practice implicationsThe management of perceived stress and the use of adaptive emotion-focused coping responses in the everyday lives of maltreated women may be particularly useful points of intervention in order to mitigate physical health concerns in adulthood.

A Multi-mediation Model on the Relations of Bullying, Victimization, Identity, and Family with Adolescent Depressive Symptoms

This study investigated a multi-mediation model of the relationship between bullying behavior, peer victimization, personal identity, and family characteristics to adolescent depressive symptoms in 194 high school students, 12–18 years of age. In the first model, peer victimization mediated the relation between bullying behavior and depressive symptoms. In the second model, personal identity mediated the relation between peer victimization and depressive symptoms. In the final model, the two mediation models were combined. The relative influence of family characteristics on all variables in the two mediation models was studied using structural equation modeling. The results supported both mediation models and confirmed the influence of family characteristics on all variables in the mediation models. This study indicates that victimization by one’s peers has consequences for adolescents’ psychological health when their personal identity is affected. In addition, the study was able to model several processes in which family characteristics were related to adolescent depressive symptoms. Moreover, the final combined model (in which the two mediation models and the influence of family characteristics on all variables were confirmed) explained half of the variance in adolescent depressive symptoms.