The Mediating Roles of Adolescent Disclosure and Parental Knowledge in the Association Between Parental Warmth and Delinquency Among Korean Adolescents

The purpose of this study was to examine the association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency, the potential mediating roles of adolescent disclosure and parental knowledge, and gender differences in such association among Korean adolescents. We hypothesized that (1) parental warmth would be significantly and negatively associated with delinquency, (2) adolescent disclosure and parental knowledge would mediate the association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency, and (3) the association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency mediated through adolescent disclosure and parental knowledge would be stronger for adolescent girls than boys. Using a sample of 3125 Korean adolescents from nationally representative and longitudinal data (Korea Youth Panel Survey), results from path analyses demonstrated that findings were consistent with US samples, suggesting a negative association between parental warmth and adolescent delinquency. Further, when Korean adolescents perceived parents to be warmer, they were more likely to disclose personal information to their parents. In turn, higher levels of disclosure were associated with higher levels of parental knowledge about their adolescent children’s activities. Finally, tests of gender differences suggested that parental warmth was more closely associated with adolescent disclosure among girls than boys. Results supported a process model through which parents may shape adolescent children’s delinquency.     

The Importance of the Community Context in the Epidemiology of Early Adolescent Substance Use and Delinquency in a Rural Sample

Considerable research has demonstrated that substance use and delinquency during early adolescence can have long-term negative health consequences. As the correlates of these behaviors cross levels and contexts, it is likely that a social ecological approach will provide insight to inform community prevention. This approach informs the present study, which focuses on developing a multiple-method measurement strategy to examine associations among community risks, resources, and rates of early adolescent substance use and delinquency in 28 rural and small town communities. Measures include five domains of community risk, four domains of community resources, and population rates of early adolescent substance use and delinquency. Results demonstrated that several measures of context were significantly associated with community rates of adolescent substance use and delinquency, and different risks and resources appear important for different outcomes. Multiple associations were curvilinear, and interactions may also be important. Findings suggest that it may be worthwhile to create and test new intervention strategies that target community factors in the pursuit of prevention.     

The Development of Delinquency and Perceived Friendship Quality in Adolescent Best Friendship Dyads

The present study examines both the unique and the combined role of best friends' delinquency and perceived friendship quality in the development of adolescent delinquency. Questionnaire data were gathered from 435 Dutch adolescent best friends (mean age at first wave = 12.97) over a period of 5 years with annual assessments. Results showed that mean levels of delinquency and perceived friendship quality increased over time. Adolescent best friends were highly similar in both mean levels and changes in delinquency over time. For boys, similarity in mean level delinquency between best friends was higher than for girls. In addition, only for boys, friends' delinquency is associated with increases in adolescent delinquency over time, and adolescents' delinquency is associated with increases in friends' delinquency over time. No bidirectional longitudinal associations were found between perceived friendship quality and adolescent delinquency. No interaction effects between friendship quality and friends' delinquency on adolescent delinquency were found. Thus, findings were more in support of the differential association theory than of the social control theory.     

Delinquency and Substance Use among Gang-Involved Youth: The Moderating Role of Parenting Practices

This study uses longitudinal data from an ethnically diverse sample of 300 ninth grade students to examine the moderating effect of parenting practices upon the relationship between gang involvement and adolescent problem behavior. Results of hierarchical linear modeling indicate that gang involvement is a highly significant positive predictor of each of three categories of problem behavior (minor delinquency, major delinquency, and substance use). Three of the four parenting variables (behavioral control, psychological control, parent–adolescent conflict, and warmth) are found to moderate the relationship between gang involvement and problem behavior, with the most consistent effects found for behavioral control and warmth. These findings indicate that intervention efforts aimed at reducing the impact of gang involvement on adolescent development should consider factors that may decrease the deleterious behavioral outcomes associated with youth gangs.     

Adolescents’ Conflict Resolution Styles Toward Mothers: The Role of Parenting and Personality

In the present research, we examined associations between contextual and individual factors and adolescents’ conflict resolution with mothers. In Study 1, we explored links between maternal responsiveness and psychological control and adolescent conflict resolution styles (positive problem solving, conflict engagement, withdrawal, and compliance) with two informants. In Study 2, we examined the unique contribution of adolescents’ personality above and beyond perceived parenting in the prediction of conflict resolution styles. Results of both studies indicated that responsiveness was related positively to problem solving and negatively to withdrawal. Psychological control was positively associated with destructive resolution styles. Study 2 indicated that extraversion predicted more problem solving and conflict engagement, and less withdrawal. Agreeableness predicted more problem solving and less conflict engagement. Finally, certain personality traits moderated associations between parenting and conflict resolution, indicating that some adolescents are more sensitive to these parenting dimensions than others.     

Gender Differences in Patterns of Association Between Prosocial Behavior, Personality, and Externalizing Problems

This study examines whether prosocial behavior and personality have independent or overlapping associations with adolescent externalizing problems. A total of 128 female and 103 male early adolescents (M = 13.6 years old) completed personality inventories. Prosocial behavior was assessed by peer nominations (N = 663). Composite aggression and delinquency scores were derived from maternal and self-reports. Path analyses indicated gender differences in patterns of association. For girls, links between prosocial behavior and both aggression and delinquency were fully mediated by agreeableness and partially mediated by conscientiousness. For boys, prosocial behavior, agreeableness, and conscientiousness were independently and negatively associated with aggression and delinquency. The findings suggest that personality and prosocial behavior are uniquely related to boys' behavior problems but cannot be readily disentangled when it comes to girls' behavior problems.     

A Test of Three Alternative Hypotheses Regarding the Effects of Early Delinquency on Adolescent Psychosocial Functioning and Substance Involvement

This study compared alternative hypotheses (from general deviance, life course, and developmental psychopathology perspectives) regarding the effects of early adolescent delinquency on psychosocial functioning in family, school, and peer contexts, and on alcohol use. Analyses also examined parent-child negative affective quality, prosocial school orientation, and peer substance use as possible direct predictors of problem substance use. Participants in this longitudinal study, extending from age 11 to age 18, were 429 rural teens (222 girls) and their families. Path model comparisons supported the tenability of a partial mediation model that included mediating pathways and a direct effect of delinquency on alcohol use, as hypothesized by developmental psychopathology. A supplemental analysis controlling for the stability of the family, school, and peer variables revealed that delinquency had less pervasive direct effects on, and a nonsignificant indirect effect through, changes in the mediators over time. Results also showed that peer substance use was a direct positive predictor of problem use.     

Differences in family functioning in grandparent and parent-headed households in a clinical sample of drug-using African American adolescents

Grandparents play a critical role in African American families, providing support and important leadership functions. Little is known, however, about family functioning in grandparent-headed households with a drug-using adolescent. Such knowledge is particularly salient for researchers and therapists who work with drug-using adolescents and their families. Using a clinical sample of convenience, analyses were conducted to identify similarities and differences in adolescent substance use and behavior problems, family relationships, and family social ecology relationships between African American grandparent-headed (n=12) and parent-headed (n=54) households. Results indicated that adolescents from the 2 household types reported similar levels of problem behaviors, but that grandparents reported less delinquency with peers than did parents. Primary caregivers in grandparent-headed households reported less monitoring and supervision of peers and less within-family conflict. Implications for treatment are discussed.     

Longitudinal analysis of flexibility and reorganization in early adolescence: a dynamic systems study of family interactions

A dynamic systems (DS) approach was used to study changes in the structure of family interactions during the early adolescent transition period. Longitudinal observational data were collected in 5 waves prior to, during, and after the transition. Boys (n = 149 families) were videotaped problem solving with their parents at 9-10 years old and every 2 years thereafter until they were 18 years old State space grids (a new DS method) were constructed for all families across all waves. Two variables indexing the variability of the family interactions were derived from the grids. As hypothesized, the DS variables revealed a significant quadratic effect related to a peak in variability at 13-14 years of age.     

二孩家庭父母偏爱的特点及其与青少年抑郁的关系

对1655名来自二孩家庭的青少年进行调查,以考察二孩家庭中父母偏爱的特点及其与青少年抑郁的关系。结果发现：（1）父母偏爱水平较低,且父亲偏爱和母亲偏爱不存在显著差异。（2）父母偏爱存在性别和出生次序差异,男孩报告父母更偏爱自己,女孩报告父母更偏爱同胞;头胎子女报告父亲更偏爱自己,母亲更偏爱同胞,二胎子女则相反。（3）父母偏爱对青少年抑郁有显著影响,且为U型曲线关系,即当父母偏爱同胞或中高程度偏爱自己时,青少年抑郁水平均较高;当父母较低程度偏爱自己时,青少年抑郁水平最低。说明二孩家庭中不存在严重的父母偏爱,但父母偏爱会对青少年发展产生消极影响。     

Prospective Association of Childhood Receptive Vocabulary and Conduct Problems with Self-Reported Adolescent Delinquency: Tests of Mediation and Moderation in Sibling-Comparison Analyses

Associations among receptive vocabulary measured at 4–9 years, mother-reported childhood conduct problems at 4–9 years, and self-reported adolescent delinquency at 14–17 years were assessed using data from a prospective study of the offspring of a large U.S. nationally representative sample of women. A novel quasi-experimental strategy was used to rule out family-level confounding by estimating path-analytic associations within families in a sibling comparison design. This allowed simultaneous tests of the direct and indirect effects of receptive vocabulary and childhood conduct problems, and of their joint moderation, on adolescent delinquency without family-level environmental confounding. The significant association of receptive vocabulary with later adolescent delinquency was indirect, mediated by childhood conduct problems. Furthermore, a significant interaction between receptive vocabulary and childhood conduct problems reflected a steeper slope for the predictive association between childhood conduct problems and adolescent delinquency when receptive vocabulary scores were higher. These findings of significant indirect association were qualitatively identical in both population-level and within-family analyses, suggesting that they are not the result of family-level confounds.     

The Role of Attachment Style in Predicting Repetition of Adolescent Self‐Harm: A Longitudinal Study

This study investigated whether insecure attachment is associated with poorer outcomes at 6‐month follow‐up in adolescents who self‐harm. At baseline the Child Attachment Interview was administered to 52 adolescents (13‐17 years) referred to specialist child and adolescent mental health services and with a recent history of self‐harm. Participants also completed self‐report measures of self‐harm, peer attachment, anxiety, and depression and were administered the means end problem‐solving task. Self‐harm behavior and problem‐solving skills were assessed again at 6‐month follow‐up. At baseline, 14 (27%) were securely attached to their mothers. In the 49 (94%) adolescents followed‐up, those with insecure maternal attachment and insecure peer attachment were more likely to have repeated self‐harm. In addition, securely attached adolescents showed greater improvement in problem‐solving skills. These findings indicate that secure maternal and peer attachments may help recovery from self‐harm, possibly by supporting the acquisition of problem‐solving skills, and highlights the importance of social connections and attachments for youth with a history of self‐harm.     

Childhood Aggression,Adolescent Delinquency,and Drug Use: A Longitudinal Study

The interrelation of childhood aggression, early and late adolescent delinquency, and drug use was explored. Data were obtained for the subjects when they were 5–10 years old. Follow-up interviews were conducted when the subjects were between 13–18 years old and again when they were 15–20 years old. A LIS-REL analysis of the three waves of data indicated that childhood aggression is a precursor of adolescent drug use and delinquency, and that early adolescent drug use is correlated with contemporaneous delinquency as well as with later drug use and delinquency.     

Male and female delinquency trajectories from pre through middle adolescence and their continuation in late adolescence

This study of male and female adolescent delinquency trajectories focuses on the prediction of late adolescence delinquency, based on earlier delinquency and social support. In this 3-wave longitudinal survey, 270 Dutch adolescents (113 males and 157 females) ages 12 to 14, were followed for a period of 6 years. For males, the level of delinquent activity in late adolescence strongly depends on earlier delinquent activities (R2 = .33, p < .0005). In contrast, the level of female delinquency in late adolescence is far less predictable (R2 = .18, p < .001), and could not be predicted from delinquent activities during pre and early adolescence, while support from the mother during late adolescence was associated with reduced delinquency for females. Different models may be needed to explain the development of delinquency for males versus females.     

Childhood aggression, adolescent delinquency, and drug use: a longitudinal study.

The interrelation of childhood aggression, early and late adolescent delinquency, and drug use was explored. Data were obtained for the subjects when they were 5-10 years old. Follow-up interviews were conducted when the subjects were between 13-18 years old and again when they were 15-20 years old. A LISREL analysis of the three waves of data indicated that childhood aggression is a precursor of adolescent drug use and delinquency, and that early adolescent drug use is correlated with contemporaneous delinquency as well as with later drug use and delinquency.     

Adolescents at Risk of Delinquency. The Role of Parental Control,Trust, and Disclosure

This study investigates the role of parental control, trust, and disclosure as protective factors on individual and peer-group delinquency in a sample of 1420 Italian high school students aged from 14 to18 (M_age = 15.59, SD_age = 1.17), representative of the adolescent student population in Rimini (57.3% males and 42.7% females). A cluster analysis identified different patterns of parental monitoring, associated with different levels of involvement in individual and group delinquency during adolescence. The results showed parental trust, control, and adolescent disclosure to be inversely associated with violent behaviors. Our results challenge the assumption that greater parental control can reduce preadolescents’ antisocial behavior.     

Correlates of aggressive and delinquent conduct problems in adolescence

The primary purpose of the study was to test a hypothetical model for aggressive and delinquent conduct problems in adolescence. A total of 168 adolescents from 121 families were studied using several questionnaires and a semi‐structured interview. The following factors were considered: obstetric complications, temperament (novelty‐seeking), self‐esteem, family influences (perceived parenting, alcohol abuse/dependence of parents, antisocial personality disorder of the father) and peer‐group characteristics (peer rejection and membership in a deviant peer group). The evaluation methods applied included correlation analyses and testing of two hypothetical models using structural equation modeling. The correlation analyses revealed significant relationships between adolescent aggressive and delinquent behavioral problems and parental antisocial behavior; perceived parental rejection and low emotional warmth; adolescent novelty‐seeking, self‐esteem, peer rejection and peer deviance. The two empirical models, separately for aggressive and delinquent behavior problems, revealed direct relationships between paternal antisocial behavior, parental rejection, adolescent novelty seeking, peer deviance, peer rejection, and offspring aggression and delinquency. There were, however, two differences with respect to the relationships between peer rejection, peer deviance, aggression and delinquency. First, peer rejection was more strongly associated with aggressive behavior and only moderately linked to delinquency. Second, deviance in the peer‐group was found to be closely related with delinquency but only moderately with aggression. Our findings suggest that several pathways for aggressive and delinquent conduct problems are comparable while others were not. Regarding the findings of the empirical models, we conclude that only intervention measures that include parents, peers and individual adolescents may help decrease the incidence of aggressive and delinquent conduct problems. Aggr. Behav. 31:24–39, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Behavioral Problems Reported by Adolescents and Parents from HIV Affected Families in China

This study examined the influence of various factors on the behavioral problems of adolescents affected by HIV while considering the agreement between adolescent and parent reports on problem behaviors. A total of 136 families each with one parent living with HIV (PLH) and one child aged 13–18 were included. Structural equation modeling was used to explore relationships between selected family measures and adolescent’s problem behaviors. The correlation between the PLH and adolescent-reported behavioral problem measures was low (β?=?0.11). PLH-reported adolescent problem behaviors were negatively related to PLH-reported parental bonding (β?=??0.39), family routines (β?=??0.26), and positively associated with family conflict (β?=?0.21). Adolescent-reported family participation was associated with self-reported problem behaviors (β?=??0.35). Our study reported discrete perceptions of adolescent problem behaviors from parents’ and adolescents’ points of view. Future intervention efforts should emphasize family contextual factors to improve behavioral outcomes in adolescents affected by HIV.