As these factors begin to be identified, this opens up avenues for future research into the mechanisms driving their effects. Previous research on aggression suggests that proximal psychological mechanisms, such as emotion dysregulation (Herts, McLaughlin, & Hatzenbuehler, 2012), might contribute to the indirect effects from parental externalizing→life events→adolescent externalizing. Although we were unable to test this possibility directly in the present study, it may be the case that adjustment to numerous life events taxes adolescents’ burgeoning ability to effectively modulate their emotions, giving rise to externalizing behavior. However, it could also reflect the likelihood that parents in families that experience many life events are also more likely to foster the development of coercive behavior in their children and to fail to prevent externalizing behavior (Conger, Patterson, & Ge, 1995; Patterson, 1982).
