The association between witnessing domestic violence and trait aggression via anger rumination among Chinese college students: The moderated mediating role of socioeconomic status

Violence exposure may be an important predictor of individual’s trait aggression. While plenty of studies have explored the effect of experiencing domestic violence, its witnesses are less researched. Besides, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this relationship. This study aims to investigate the mediating role of anger rumination on the link between witnessing domestic violence and trait aggression, and the moderating role of socioeconomic status (SES) in this direct and indirect link. A total of 650 Chinese college students (M age = 19.68 years, SD = 1.17) completed self-report questionnaires, measuring witnessing domestic violence, trait aggression, anger rumination, and SES. The results showed that witnessing domestic violence was significantly positively associated with anger rumination and trait aggression. Moreover, anger rumination partially mediated the link between witnessing domestic violence and trait aggression. And SES significantly moderated the association between witnessing domestic violence and anger rumination such that the effect of witnessing domestic violence was much stronger in higher SES than lower SES. Findings of this study suggest a potential role of reducing rumination in the prevention and intervention of trait aggression, especially for the students of higher SES.