Determinants of South Korean adolescents' offline and online violence: a structural equation modeling approach

Adolescent violence has been one of the most serious social concerns for the last few decades. With the rapid development and spread of the Internet and digital technologies, online violence has become another major type of adolescent violence. This study investigates the antecedents of South Korean adolescents’ offline and online violence by employing both the theoretical and empirical foundations of traditional violence literature. The research model was proposed and constructed based on general strain theory and social ecological theory with considerations of 2481 middle school first-grade student samples from the 2018 Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey (KCYPS). Structural equation modeling (SEM) results presented the direct effects of emotions and indirect effects of social relationships on adolescents’ delinquency, bullying, and online violence. Overall, the findings of the current study are consistent with those of previous studies and theoretical assumptions. Except for the effect of social withdrawal on delinquency, the emotions had significant effects on violence perpetration. Furthermore, relationships with parents, friends, and teachers showed protective effects against negative emotions. Finally, online violence was significantly affected by all types of social relationships. The findings of this study can provide a better understanding of both online and offline violence in adolescents. In addition, since the results were derived from a nationally representative sample, this study can provide practitioners in South Korea with guidance on how to set proper interventions for adolescents’ social and emotional aspects of violence perpetration.