Peers,Parents, and Proactive Criminal Thinking: Comparing Additive and Interactive Effects in Mid- to Late-Adolescents

The purpose of this study was two-fold: 1. determine whether friend delinquency but not parental criminality predicted proactive criminal thinking; 2. ascertain whether the effect of friend delinquency and parental knowledge of their child’s friends on proactive criminal thinking was additive or interactive. Participants were 885 (421 males, 464 females) juvenile members of the Offending, Crime, and Justice Survey. Consistent with the first hypothesis, friend delinquency but not parental criminality predicted proactive criminal thinking whereas neither variable predicted reactive criminal thinking. Partially congruent with the second hypothesis, friend delinquency and parental knowledge but not their interaction predicted proactive criminal thinking.