Co‐occurrence of depression and delinquency in personality types

Although the co‐occurrence between adolescent depression and delinquency has been well‐studied, the nature of the longitudinal associations is not yet clear. To clarify this we examined whether personality type is a moderator in the longitudinal co‐occurrence of depression and delinquency. A total of 338 young and middle adolescents completed questionnaires about depression, delinquency and personality in 3 yearly waves of the CONflict And Management Of RElationships (CONAMORE). We found that the stable overcontrollers showed the highest mean level on depression and that the stable undercontrollers showed the highest mean level on delinquency. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the longitudinal co‐occurrence between depression and delinquency was best described by means of a stability model, in which personality type membership proved to be an important moderator. The three personality types differed significantly on the rank‐order stability of both depression and delinquency. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Self-Control and the Depression–Delinquency Link

Research has repeatedly documented the link between depression and delinquency; however, why they are associated remains less clear. Blending diverse research traditions in criminology and psychology, this study suggests that self-control may explain the depression–delinquency association. By conceptualizing self-control as a depletable resource influenced by internal factors, experiencing depressive symptoms may reduce self-control, which in turn increases delinquency. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) lend support for this proposition and suggest that self-control is an important explanatory factor in the depression–delinquency relationship. Specifically, the data show that depression is no longer associated with delinquency when self-control is taken into account and self-control explains more of the association than previous explanations combined.     

Gender differences in the development and adult outcome of co-occurring depression and delinquency in adolescence

Using a dual trajectory modeling approach, we examined co-occurring trajectories of depression and delinquency from age 11 to age 18 and their relation to adult outcome six years later in a community sample of 1423 (674 boys) adolescents. We also examined the effects of childhood externalizing, internalizing, and social problems on trajectory membership for depression and delinquency. The results showed that although more girls than boys were likely to follow high-level, co-occurring trajectories on depression and delinquency, the adult outcome of adolescents following high-level trajectories on both domains was poorer for boys than for girls. However, the combination of decreasing depression symptoms and increasing delinquency symptoms across adolescence was related with poorer adult outcomes for girls compared to boys. Finally, whereas boys' high-level co-occurring trajectory of depression and delinquency was predicted by childhood aggression, girls' equivalent trajectory was predicted by childhood depression and delinquency. The findings support the "gender paradox" effect (Loeber & Keenan, 1994) stating that in disorders with an unequal gender ratio, members of the gender with the lower prevalence rate tend to be more seriously affected in terms of comorbidity and poor outcome.     

A Latent Profile Analysis of the Parent–Adolescent Relationship: Assessing Both Parent and Adolescent Outcomes

Using family systems and attachment theory frameworks, this study identified specific dimensions of the parent–adolescent relationship and examined the association between those dimensions and adolescent depression and delinquency, and parental depression 2 years later in a racially and ethnically diverse sample. Parent–adolescent relationships were identified using a person-centered approach, latent profile analysis, using closeness, communication, conflict, and autonomy as dimensions of the relationship. The latent profile analysis produced a four-profile solution, which was labeled secure, avoidant, anxious, and detached. Next, parent and adolescent outcomes were examined. Results indicated that adolescents in the detached profile exhibited the highest amount of delinquency, whereas the parents exhibited the lowest amount of depression. Adolescents in the avoidant profile also exhibited high levels of delinquency, and parents in this profile also exhibited the highest amount of depression symptoms. No profile differences were found for adolescent depression symptoms. Implications for family interventions are discussed.     

Examining Race and Ethnicity in the Context of General Strain Theory,Depression, and Delinquency

The current study draws on general strain theory (GST) to explore the relationship between strain, race, and delinquent behavior. White, black, and Hispanic youth were examined to assess the effect of strain on nonserious and serious delinquency. Results indicate mixed support for GST in that indicators of strain to varying degrees predicted depression and youth involvement in delinquency. However, depression did not mediate the strain–delinquency relationship, and race and ethnicity were still directly related to delinquent coping. While white, black, and Hispanic youth experienced certain types of strain, these groups overall were not statistically different from one another.     

Trajectories of school engagement during adolescence: implications for grades, depression, delinquency, and substance use

Using longitudinal data from the 4-H Study of Positive Youth Development, the authors assessed 1,977 adolescents across Grades 5 to 8 to determine if there were distinctive developmental paths for behavioral and emotional school engagement; if these paths varied in relation to sex, race/ethnicity, and family socioeconomic status (SES); and whether links existed between trajectories of school engagement and grades, depression, substance use, and delinquency. Four trajectories for behavioral school engagement and four trajectories of emotional engagement were identified using a semiparametric mixture model. These trajectories were distinct with regard to initial levels of and changes in engagement, as well as to their shapes. Trajectories varied in regard to sex, SES, and race/ethnicity. Different trajectories of behavioral and emotional engagement were linked to grades, depression, delinquency, and substance use. Directions for future research and application are discussed.     

Does the neighborhood context alter the link between youth's after-school time activities and developmental outcomes? A multilevel analysis

This article examines links between different measures of after-school time activity participation (5 specific activities and breadth) on youth's developmental outcomes (anxiety/depression, delinquency, and substance use) over 6 years and whether these links are moderated by neighborhood-level variables. The sample (N=1,315) of 9- and 12-year-old youth was drawn from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), a multilevel, longitudinal study of youth from 80 Chicago neighborhoods. Findings revealed that different types of activities and patterns of participation over time were associated with outcomes for youth and that, to some extent, these outcomes varied with neighborhood characteristics. In brief, sports participation was associated with fewer anxious/depressed symptoms, higher average delinquency scores, and increased substance use-both average scores and growth over time. Participation in the arts and student government were negatively associated with average substance use and attenuated increases in usage over time. Participation in community-based clubs was positively associated with youth's anxiety/depression in violent neighborhoods only, whereas church groups were protective against substance use in nonviolent neighborhoods. The direction of the influence of breadth of participation was nonlinear for delinquency such that delinquency scores were highest among youth who engaged in an average number of activities.     

Suicidal behavior, negative affect, gender, and self-reported delinquency in college students

The associations among suicidal behavior, negative affect, and delinquency were assessed via an anonymous self-report survey administered to male and female college students ( N = 383). Contrary to our hypothesized results, there were no gender differences in rates of suicidal ideation and attempts. Confirming our hypotheses about gender differences, college men did report significantly more delinquent behavior than college women. College men also scored higher on the suicide-proneness scale, which contained a mixture of death-related, risk-related, and negative self- and health-related items. Furthermore, as predicted, college students with a history of depression, suicide ideation, and/or suicide attempts all reported significantly more delinquent behavior. Self-reported delinquency and current levels of depressive symptomology emerged as significant predictors of suicide-prone behavior for both college men and women, explaining 34% of the variance for women and 17% for men. Levels of engagement in suicide-prone behavior and feelings of depression were elevated in college students with any type of juvenile arrest history. Students with an arrest history were also more likely to have had a diagnosis of depression and to have engaged in suicide ideation in their past. These findings suggest there are complex links between depression, delinquency, and suicidal behavior in college men and women.     

Links Between Antisocial Behavior and Depressed Mood: The Role of Life Events and Attributional Style

Comorbidity between antisocial behavior and depression in adolescence is widely recognized. This paper examines whether links with depressed mood differ among three subtypes of antisocial behavior: oppositionality, physical aggression and delinquency. In addition we examine two possible contributors to these links: negative life events that are dependent upon the individual's actions and depressogenic attributional style. Data are drawn from the G1219 large-scale community twin and sibling sample, and include 2409 questionnaire responses from youths aged between 13 and 19 living in the United Kingdom. Depressed mood was independently associated with both oppositionality and delinquency, but not with physical aggression. Dependent negative life events were strongly implicated in the association between delinquency and depressed mood, whereas depressogenic attributional style was implicated in the associations of both oppositionality and delinquency with depressed mood. Oppositionality remained a significant predictor of depressed mood after accounting for attributional style and life events whereas delinquency did not. The pattern of associations was largely similar in boys and girls. We discuss these results in terms of developmental models of the links between antisocial behavior and depressed mood.     

Co-occurring delinquency and depressive symptoms of adolescent boys and girls: a dual trajectory modeling approach

Co-occurring trajectories of delinquent behavior and depressive symptoms and their correlates were examined in a longitudinal sample of 985 middle-adolescent boys and girls (mean age = 15.54 years at Time 1). Dual trajectory analysis was used to identify the co-occurring trajectories. For boys (n = 472), 4 delinquency and 4 depression trajectory groups were found. For girls (n = 513), 3 delinquency and 3 depression trajectory groups were identified. The linkage between co-occurring trajectories was higher for girls than for boys. Stressful life events and childhood precursors of the outcomes predicted trajectory group membership for both genders fairly consistently. Findings suggest heterogeneity in developmental courses of delinquent behavior and depressive symptoms across adolescent boys and girls.     

Differential Associations Between Relational and Overt Aggression and Children’s Psychosocial Adjustment

Although much research has focused on the association between childhood aggression and negative psychosocial adjustment, the link between the subtypes of aggression and adjustment is less clear, particularly for relational aggression. The current study examined whether overt and relational aggression in childhood (M = 10.4 years, SD = 1.1) are differentially associated with four psychosocial adjustment outcomes (i.e., academic performance, social problems, depression, and delinquency). Results indicated that relational aggression was negatively associated with academic performance, while overt aggression was positively associated with delinquency. Additionally, findings suggested gender differences in the link between aggression subtypes and social problems. Specifically, overt aggression was positively associated with social problems for boys and relational aggression was positively associated with social problems for girls. Neither subtype of aggression was uniquely associated with depression. Thus, this study suggests that psychosocial outcomes may differ depending on the form of aggression that is utilized.     

Sex and Age Differences in the Risk Threshold for Delinquency

This study examines sex differences in the risk threshold for adolescent delinquency. Analyses were based on longitudinal data from the Pittsburgh Youth Study (n?=?503) and the Pittsburgh Girls Study (n?=?856). The study identified risk factors, promotive factors, and accumulated levels of risks as predictors of delinquency and nondelinquency, respectively. The risk thresholds for boys and girls were established at two developmental stages (late childhood: ages 10–12 years, and adolescence: ages 13–16 years) and compared between boys and girls. Sex similarities as well as differences existed in risk and promotive factors for delinquency. ROC analyses revealed only small sex differences in delinquency thresholds, that varied by age. Accumulative risk level had a linear relationship with boys’ delinquency and a quadratic relationship with girls’ delinquency, indicating stronger effects for girls at higher levels of risk.     

The correlates of conflict: disagreement is not necessarily detrimental.

In this study, the authors examined whether concurrent associations between adolescent outcomes and disagreements with mothers, fathers, and best friends vary as a function of perceived relationship quality. Participants were 469 11- to 18-year-old youths from a culturally diverse community. Negative qualities of parent-adolescent and friend relationships were linked to adjustment problems (aggression, anxiety and depression, delinquency, and withdrawal). Positive qualities of parent-adolescent relationships were linked to school grades and adjustment problems. Nonlinear associations between conflict and adolescent outcomes were moderated by negative qualities of relationships such that increases in conflict from low to moderate levels were linked to (a) higher school grades for adolescents in better but not poorer quality relationships and (b) greater delinquency and withdrawal for adolescents in poorer but not better quality relationships.     

Neighborhood context, personality, and stressful life events as predictors of depression among African American women

The authors tested neighborhood context, negative life events, and negative affectivity as predictors of the onset of major depression among 720 African American women. Neighborhood-level economic disadvantage (e.g., percentage of residents below the poverty line) and social disorder (e.g., delinquency, drug use) predicted the onset of major depression when controlling for individual-level demographic characteristics. Neighborhood-level disadvantage/disorder interacted with negative life events, such that women who experienced recent negative life events and lived in high disadvantage/disorder neighborhoods were more likely to become depressed than were those who lived in more benign settings, both concurrently and over a 2-year period. Neighborhood disadvantage/disorder can be viewed as a vulnerability factor that increases susceptibility to depression following the experience of negative life events.     

purging behavior in a sample of college females: a research note on general strain theory and female deviance

Tests of theories of deviance tend to focus on criminality, delinquency, or types of deviance more typically engaged in by males. Prototypical female deviance has been largely ignored. This article reports the findings from a pilot study of female deviance. Using a sample of 96 college women, we examine the utility of General Strain Theory to explain one prototypically female type of deviant behavior, purging. We explore the relationship of strain variables to purging, mediated through negative affect. Two forms of negative affect, anger and depression, are included in the model. Our findings suggest that the relationship is complex, with an interaction between anger and depression. Anger is associated with purging at high levels of depression only. The preliminary findings, when viewed in conjunction with prior research, suggest that different negative affective states may be associated with different types of deviance outcomes, and that typically "female" or self-directed types of deviance may result from the interaction of anger and depression.     

Evidence for a genetic etiology of early-onset delinquency

Age at onset of antisocial behavior discriminates persistent and transitory offenders. The authors proposed that early-onset delinquency has an underlying genetic influence that manifests in problems related to inhibition, whereas late-onset delinquency is more environmentally mediated. To test these notions, they selected 36 early starters, 86 late starters, and 25 nondelinquent controls from a large sample of 11-year-old twins and compared them on several measures related to inhibition and a peer group measure. As expected, early starters had more psychological, behavioral, and emotional problems related to inhibition than late starters and controls. A longitudinal analysis indicated an increase an antisocial behavior among peers of late starters shortly before their delinquency onset. Family history data and a twin analysis provided evidence of greater genetic influence on early-onset than late-onset delinquency.     

Foster Care Placement,Poor Parenting,and Negative Outcomes Among Homeless Young Adults

Although homeless youth with and without foster care histories both face adverse life circumstances, little is known about how these two groups compare in terms of their early histories and whether they face similar outcomes. As such, we compared those with and without a history of foster care placement to determine if the associations between a history of poor parenting and negative outcomes including depression, delinquency, physical and sexual victimization, and substance use, are similar for these two groups. The sample consisted of 172 homeless young adults from the Midwestern United States. Multivariate results revealed that among those previously in foster care, a history of physical abuse and neglect were positively associated with more depressive symptoms whereas sexual abuse and neglect were related to delinquency and physical victimization. Additionally, lower caretaker monitoring was linked to greater delinquent participation. Among those without a history of foster care, physical abuse was related to more depressive symptoms whereas sexual abuse was positively correlated with delinquency, sexual victimization, and substance use. Furthermore, lower monitoring was related to more substance use. Our findings are discussed in terms of a social stress framework and we review the implications of foster care placement for homeless young adults.     

The Predictive Utility of Narcissism among Childrenand Adolescents: Evidence for a Distinction betweenAdaptive and Maladaptive Narcissism

We examined the predictive utility of narcissism among a community sample of children and adolescents (N=98) longitudinally. Analyses focused on the differential utility between maladaptive and adaptive narcissism for predicting later delinquency. Maladaptive narcissism significantly predicted self-reported delinquency at one-, two-, and three-year follow-ups. This pattern held even when considering other intrapersonal risk factors for conduct problems (i.e., callous-unemotional traits, impulsivity), parenting practices, and when controlling for earlier conduct problems. In addition, adaptive narcissism was predictive of delinquency in the absence of positive parenting practices, with maladaptive narcissism being particularly predictive of delinquency in the presence of negative parenting. The implications for understanding delinquency in terms of the social and motivational characteristics that are the hallmark of maladaptive narcissism are discussed.     

The influence of perceptions of own parenting on sociomoral reasoning,attributions for criminal behaviour,and self-reported delinquency

This study considers the relationship of perceptions of parenting with moral reasoning, causal attributions about criminal behaviour, and self-reported delinquency in a sample of young people. Correlations revealed that perceived parental rejection and emotional warmth, and causal attributions based on temptation were significantly related to self-reported delinquency. The most significant predictors of delinquency scores were paternal emotional warmth, and causal attributions based on temptation and mental instability.     

Using integrated theory to explain the movement into juvenile delinquency

Research grounded in labeling, differential association, social learning, and social control theory provides useful information about various phases of the delinquency process. However, none of these theories accounts for the entire delinquency process. Recent work has demonstrated, for example, that social control theory may be more suitable for explaining initial delinquency, whereas labeling theory is more useful in explaining continued delinquency. This paper incorporates theoretical elements of labeling, differential association, social learning, and social control theories into a model that explains both initial and continued delinquency. Analysis of data from three waves of the National Youth Survey provides support for the model and shows that weakened social controls increase opportunities for associating with delinquent peers, learning delinquent behaviors, and committing initial delinquent acts. Initial delinquency increases the likelihood of being observed and negatively labeled by parents. These labels in turn increase the likelihood of future delinquency. These results lend support to arguments for integrated theory in the study of juvenile delinquency.