In the final model, Time 1 stressful life events were no longer a significant predictor of Time 3 aggressive behavior, controlling for aggressive behavior and emotion dysregulation at Time 1, when Time 2 emotion dysregulation was added to the model, β=0.02, p=.678 (see Fig. 2). Sobel’s z-test revealed a significant indirect effect of stress on aggression through emotion dysregulation, z=2.32, p=0.020. This model accounted for the covariation between Time 1 aggression, emotion dysregulation, and stressful life events and explained 68.0% of the variance in emotion dysregulation and 22.0% of the variance in aggressive behavior. The final mediation model fit the data well, χ2(112)=439.6, p<0.001, CFI=0.95, and RMSEA=0.05 (90% CI: 0.04–0.05).
