Racial differences in the effects of early adverse childhood experiences on adolescent delinquency: The role of middle childhood mechanisms

Abstract

PurposeCertain strains, called adverse childhood experiences (ACE), have continually been found to influence delinquency, but how these ACEs affect delinquency during adolescence and whether middle childhood experiences mediate this relationship remain unclear. Further, racial/ethnic differences in the ACEs to delinquency link remain understudied. The purposes of this study are threefold: (1) to understand the association of different levels of ACEs experienced by age five with adolescent delinquency, (2) explore potential middle childhood mechanisms that may mediate this association, and (3) examine whether the effects vary by race/ethnicity. MethodsNegative binomial regression models were used to examine the relationship between early cumulative ACEs and adolescent delinquency by race/ethnicity. Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) method was used examine the extent to which middle childhood mechanisms mediated the relationship between early ACEs and adolescent delinquency by race/ethnicity. ResultsOur findings support the established relationship between early childhood ACEs and youth delinquency but show that different middle childhood mechanisms – such as prior delinquency, low self-control, and cumulative ACEs – mediate the relationship differently across racial/ethnic groups. ConclusionsThis study highlights the importance of early ACEs as an explanation for adolescent delinquency as well as the importance of considering middle childhood mechanisms and race/ethnicity in these relationships.