Parent–Perceived Isolation and Aggressive Behavior in Children: The Mediating Role of Anger Control

This study examines the relationship between parent‐perceived social isolation and aggressive behaviors in primary school children, with an emphasis on the mediating role of emotional-regulation problems and anger-control problems, as measured by the Sistema de Evaluación de Niños y Adolescentes (SENA). Data were analyzed from 1363 students (54.6% girls; M _age = 10.00, SD =.79) in fourth to sixth grade in northern Chile using structural equation modeling (SEM). Direct and mediated relationships were evaluated while controlling age, sex, and nationality. Parent‐perceived social isolation predicted problems in anger control (β =.09, p =.04) but did not predict emotional-regulation problems. Anger‑control problems were strongly associated with aggression (β =.91, p <.01) and served as a significant mediator between parent‑perceived social isolation and aggressive behavior (indirect β =.13, p =.01), whereas emotion‑regulation difficulties showed no mediating effect. The final model accounted for 62.1% of the variance in aggression, highlighting sex differences in which boys exhibited higher levels of anger and aggression. These findings underscore the central role of anger control as a linking pathway between parent‐perceived social isolation and aggression, emphasizing the need for interventions that involve families, enhance early identification of signs of social withdrawal, and promote support networks to mitigate the negative effects of isolation.