Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the mediating effect of impulsivity in the relationship between trait anxiety and aggression among prisoners. In addition, the moderated mediating effect of negative automatic thoughts was investigated in the indirect effect of impulsivity between trait anxiety and aggression. For this purpose, data were collected from 500 prisoners of a correctional institution in P, Korea, and analyzed using SPSS 25.0 and SPSS Macro. The results of the study showed that the relationship between trait anxiety and aggression was significantly mediated by impulsivity, indicating a partial mediation effect, and that the moderated mediation effect of negative automatic thoughts were also significant. This findings confirm that the mediating effect of impulsivity in the relationship between trait anxiety and aggression increases while higher level of negative automatic thoughts. This study offers implication of negative automatic thoughts in explaining aggression among prisoners to correctional officers and correctional psychologists.