emotion dysregulation and, potentially, aggressive behavior. Emotion dysregulation might therefore represent a component mechanism in the social information processing pathway linking exposure to violence and aggressive behavior (Dodge et al. 1990, 1995; 2003; Guerra et al. 2003; Weiss et al. 1992; Lansford et al. 2010). In this way, our findings could be considered complementary to the existing literature on social information processing deficits and aggression. The present study builds on this previous work, however, by showing that a wider range of stressful life events—including those not involving violence or victimization—lead to deficits in emotion dysregulation and elevations in adolescent aggressive behavior. Emotion dysregulation might therefore represent an independent pathway linking stressful life events not involving victimization and violence to the onset of aggressive behavior in adolescents.
