Article Gold Open Access 2025

Social–Cognitive Factors in Antisocial Behavior and School Violence: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Greek Vocational Students

Children
Journal · Vol. 12 · Issue 12 · Art. 1647
Abstract

Background/Objectives: School violence represents a significant concern for educational communities worldwide, affecting student well-being and academic development. While prior research has documented prevalence rates and risk factors, limited studies have examined social–cognitive factors associated with antisocial behavior specifically within vocational education contexts using integrated analytical approaches. This exploratory cross-sectional study examined social–cognitive factors—specifically self-reported attitudes about aggression norms, prosocial attitudes, and school climate perceptions—associated with violence-supportive attitudes among Greek vocational students. Methods: A cross-sectional design employed validated self-report instruments and traditional statistical methods. The sample comprised 76 vocational high school students (38.2% male; ages 14–18; response rate 75.2%) from one school in Patras, Greece. Validated instruments assessed attitudes toward interpersonal peer violence (α = 0.87), peer aggression norms across four subscales (α = 0.83–0.90), and school climate dimensions (α = 0.70–0.75). Analyses included descriptive statistics, Pearson correlations with bootstrapped confidence intervals, MANOVA for multivariate group comparisons, independent samples t-tests, propensity score matching for urban–rural comparisons, polynomial regression for developmental patterns, and path analysis for theoretical model testing. Results: Strong associations emerged between perceived school-level and individual-level aggression norms (r = 0.80, p < 0.001, 95% CI [0.71, 0.87]), representing one of the strongest relationships documented in school violence research. Violence-supportive attitudes demonstrated inverse associations with prosocial alternative norms (r = −0.37, p < 0.001, 95% CI [−0.55, −0.16]). Significant gender differences emerged for teacher–student relationships (d = −0.78, p = 0.002), with females reporting substantially more positive perceptions. Propensity-matched urban students demonstrated higher aggression norm endorsement compared to rural students across multiple indicators (d = 0.61–0.78, all p < 0.020). Polynomial regression revealed curvilinear developmental patterns with optimal teacher relationship quality during mid-adolescence (ages 15–16). Path analysis supported a sequential association model wherein school-level norms related to individual attitudes through prosocial alternative beliefs (indirect effect β = −0.22, p = 0.002, 95% CI [−0.34, −0.11]). Conclusions: This preliminary investigation identified social–cognitive factors—particularly normative beliefs about aggression at both individual and environmental levels—as strongly associated with violence-supportive attitudes in Greek vocational education. The exceptionally strong alignment between school-level and individual-level aggression norms (r = 0.80) suggests that environmental normative contexts may play a more substantial role in attitude formation than previously recognized in this educational setting. Gender and urban–rural differences indicate meaningful heterogeneity requiring differentiated approaches. Future research should employ longitudinal designs with multi-informant assessment and larger multi-site samples to establish temporal precedence, reduce method variance, and test causal hypotheses regarding relationships between normative beliefs and behavioral outcomes. © 2025 by the authors.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Vocational education adolescent attitudes aggression norms antisocial behavior Greek students school violence social–cognitive factors teacher–student relationships

Index Keywords

adult cross-sectional study female human male adolescent Article risk factor Vocational education self concept vocation school attitude adolescence aggression antisocial behavior exploratory factor analysis high school student outcome assessment path analysis perception prevalence propensity score self report sex difference social cognition teacher student relationship theoretical model urban rural difference violence
Author Affiliations
Department of Management Science and Technology, University of Patras, Rio, Achaia, Greece
Department of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Central Macedonia, Greece
Department of Psychiatry, University General Hospital of Patras, Rio, Achaia, Greece
Funding & Acknowledgements
University of Patras
The publication fees of this manuscript have been financed by the Research Council of the University of Patras, Greece.
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