Delinquent Peer Associations Research Articles

Understanding the Mechanisms Mediating the Relationship Between Delinquent Peer Association and Adolescent Drug Use in the Greater China Region

Prior research on delinquent peer association and adolescent drug use predominantly examines the direct link between the two factors from the differential association/social learning perspective. The current study, based on survey data among 8,027 secondary school students sampled from three major cities in the Greater China Region, aims to elucidate this relationship further by identifying key mediators derived from several major criminological theories and perspectives, including social learning theory, lifestyle/routine activity theory, general strain theory, and the opportunity perspective. This study finds that significant mediators include pro-drug use attitudes, crime victimization, and drug availability, with pro-drug use attitudes exerting the most substantial influence on adolescent drug use. These results underscore the complexity of the relationship between delinquent peer association and adolescent drug use, advocating for a multifaceted theoretical approach for comprehensive understanding.

The association between delinquent peer affiliation and disruptive behavior interacts with functional brain correlates of reward sensitivity: a biosocial interaction study in adolescent delinquents.

Affiliating with delinquent peers may stimulate the development of antisocial behavior, especially for adolescents who are sensitive to social rewards. The current study examines whether the association between delinquent peer affiliation (DPA) and disruptive behavior interacts with functional brain correlates of reward sensitivity in early onset male adolescents delinquents. Childhood arrestees (n = 126, mean age = 17.7 [s.d. 1.6]) completed a DPA questionnaire, and participated in an fMRI study in which reward sensitivity was operationalized through responsiveness of the ventral striatum (VS), amygdala, and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) during the monetary incentive delay paradigm (reward anticipation and outcome). Symptoms of disruptive behavior disorders (DBD) were assessed through structured psychiatric interviews (Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children) with adolescents. DPA had a main effect on DBD symptoms. Adolescents with high VS reward responses showed a stronger significant positive association between DPA and DBD symptoms compared to low VS responders. No evidence for an interaction effect was found for the amygdala and mPFC. Post-hoc analyses revealed the positive association between DPA and DBD was only present in males, with a diminishing effect as age increased. We found evidence for a biosocial interaction between DPA and reward sensitivity of the VS in relation to DBD symptom severity. This study provides the first evidence of an interaction effect between a brain mechanism and an environmental factor in relation to DBD symptoms, implying that susceptibility to influences of delinquent peers may intertwine with individual biological differences.

The Influence of Parenting on Delinquency: The Mediating Role of Peers and the Moderating Role of Self-Control

This study uses data from the Pathways to Desistence study to test if parenting (monitoring and warmth) indirectly influences delinquency through its impact on delinquent peer association (antisocial influence and behavior) among a sample of serious juvenile offenders ( n = 1,354) and if this indirect effect is moderated by self-control. The results suggest that parental monitoring (but not warmth) predicted delinquency through both peer antisocial influence and peer behavior. Specifically, lower monitoring result in higher peer effects that, in turn, contribute to higher delinquency. The findings also suggest that this process is moderated by self-control such that the indirect effect is only significant at lower levels of self-control. The current study has important implications for understanding the role that peers and self-control play on the relationship between specific aspects of parenting. These findings can help to inform intervention and prevention programs that focus on enhancing parenting to reduce delinquency.

Influence of Childhood Adversity on Students’ Delinquent Activities: Interplay with Neighborhood Context and Delinquent Peer Association

Juvenile delinquency is often linked with various proximal family and environmental factors during a child’s upbringing. Richard Jessor’s problem behavior theory (PBT) emphasizes that a combined interplay of these factors may explain this phenomenon appropriately. This study employed the PBT framework to investigate the impact of family on students’ delinquency, considering the influence of neighborhood and delinquent peer association. A model was developed for analyzing the variables by structural equation modeling (SEM). Data were collected through interviews with 1026 students aged between 12 and 18 years from a child development center and eight educational institutes in Bangladesh. The findings revealed that family-level factors (adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and family deprivation) can significantly predict students’ delinquency directly and through the moderation effect of neighborhood-level variables (neighborhood social capital and neighborhood disorganization). Delinquent peer association exhibited a significant mediating role in the model. It could directly predict delinquency as well. The research has notable theoretical and practical implications for understanding the complex dynamics of family, neighborhood, and delinquent peer association in explaining students’ delinquency.

Adverse childhood experiences and adolescent handgun carrying

PurposeConsiderable research has shown that adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are associated with well-known correlates of handgun carrying, such as delinquent peer association, substance use, and police contact and/or arrest. Yet, little to no research to date has explicitly examined the potential role of ACEs in adolescent handgun carrying. The current study examines this important gap in existing literature. MethodsData drawn from the 2022 Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey (FYSAS, n = 23,078), a statewide representative sample of Florida high School students, were analyzed to examine the associations between individual ACEs and cumulative ACEs and carrying a handgun in the past 12 months. ResultsExposure to ACEs, such as family incarceration, family violence, and parental separation/divorce increased the likelihood of carrying a handgun three or more times in the past 12 months. Moreover, a dose-response relationship was identified between ACEs and handgun carrying, wherein, the more ACEs an adolescent was exposed to, the more likely they were to have carried a handgun in the past 12 months. ConclusionsThis study highlights the contribution of ACEs to adolescent handgun carrying behaviors.

Understanding the link between alcohol dependence and victimisation risk: Is risk explained by peers or alcohol behaviours?

AbstractBackgroundAlcohol dependence is a risk factor for experiencing victimisation, but little is known about how peer and behavioural mechanisms may explain this relationship.AimsTo test deviant peer association and/or heavy‐episodic drinking frequency as mediators between alcohol dependence and risk for being victimised.MethodsThe Pathways to Desistance data were analysed. Generalised structural equation modelling was used to determine whether either or both of the hypothesised pathways significantly mediated the relationship between alcohol dependence and victimisation.ResultsAlcohol dependence at recruitment (age 14–17) was associated with higher odds of being a victim of some form of violence in Wave 3 (age x–y). This relationship was significantly mediated by deviant peer association but not heavy‐episodic drinking frequency between Waves 2 and 3.ConclusionsThese findings add knowledge about the mechanism of a link between early alcohol dependence and later violent victimisation among young offenders. They suggest that more focus on reducing delinquent peer association, or reducing its impact, is crucial to reducing further harms to these young people, in turn possibly affecting continuing substance use and reoffending risks. Peer mentoring programmes help to provide prosocial modelling and reduce deviant peer ties in some circumstances, and these findings suggest that the next step should be their evaluation specifically among justice‐involved young people with alcohol dependence. Providing additional funding and/or opportunities for involvement in such mentoring programmes may help to reduce the public health and financial costs associated with alcohol dependence in the juvenile justice system.

The association between peer rejection and behavior problems of migrant adolescents in China: A moderated mediation model of delinquent peer affiliation and parenting

Facing a stressful environment of peer rejection and discrimination, Chinese migrant adolescents are at high risk of developing behavior problems while receiving insufficient family support. In this context, the current study aimed to explore the pathway from peer rejection to adolescent behavior problems via the mediating role of delinquent peer affiliation and with the moderating roles of parental company and parental monitoring taken into consideration. A sample of 2041 migrant adolescents (46.2% female, mean age = 13.595) was drawn from the first and second waves of the China Education Panel Survey (CEPS) for running a moderated mediation model. The results demonstrated that peer rejection positively predicted behavior problems through the mediator of delinquent peer affiliation (indirect effect = 0.007, 95% CI = [0.003, 0.014]). This mediating mechanism was moderated by parental company and by parental monitoring. Our study deepened the theoretical understanding and application of the general strain theory by showing how the interaction of peer stressors and parenting elements affected the behavior of migrant adolescents in a Chinese context. Further studies could pay more attention to the dynamic interplay between the family and peer systems, especially for rejected and marginalized adolescent groups. Limitations and implications for future school-based and family-based practices are also discussed.

Early exposure to adverse childhood experiences and delinquent peer association among youth

AbstractObjectiveThis study examines the relationships between cumulative, timing of, and duration of early adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and delinquent peer association among youth.BackgroundNegative life outcomes associated with delinquent peer affiliation among youth are well established; however, less research has considered how or whether ACEs influence these processes.MethodsData were from the longitudinal Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (n = 3,060). Negative binomial regression models were to assess the relationship between early ACEs (i.e., accumulation, timing/duration) and delinquent peer association.ResultsOur results indicate that as the number of ACEs (by age 5) incrementally increase, the likelihood of reported involvement with delinquent peers increases. Moreover, when it comes to timing and duration of ACE exposure, ACEs that are high but late, intermittent, or chronically high significantly increase the risk of delinquent peer association.Conclusion and implicationsOverall, early ACEs play an important role in delinquent peer association during adolescence. Interventions and preventions strategies, such as psychological first aid and trauma‐informed health care, can help reduce the negative consequences of early ACE exposure, including the risk of associating with delinquent peers.

South Korean adolescents' delinquency, disclosure, parental knowledge, parent-child closeness, and delinquent peer associations.

The present study sought to examine longitudinal associations among delinquency, children's disclosure to parents, parent-child relationship quality, and parental knowledge in a South Korean sample. Longitudinal research shows that in Western samples, delinquency is negatively associated with the latter three variables. We also sought to test whether the associations varied across gender. We found little evidence of significant reciprocal relationships among the variables and no differences in associations across gender. A second analysis revealed that adolescents' involvement with delinquent peers was a good predictor of subsequent delinquency for males and females. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.

Examining the mediating role of peer antisocial behavior on the relationship between parenting and bullying behaviors

ABSTRACT Although prior research has established the influence of parents and peers on adolescents’ bullying behaviors, there is a void in the literature of the potential mediating effect of negative peer influence in the relationship between parenting practices and bullying behaviors among a United States sample. Using data from the Pathways to Desistance study, the present study examines the mediating role of peer antisocial behavior in the association between parenting (i.e., parental monitoring and maternal warmth) and adolescents’ bullying behaviors (i.e., bully perpetration, bully victimization, bully-victim, and non-involved). Results indicate that the effect of parental monitoring on youth who engaged in bully perpetration (vs. non-involved) was mediated by peer antisocial behavior. That is, poor parental monitoring increased delinquent peer association, which in turn predicted a high risk of engaging in bully perpetration. However, peer antisocial behavior did not mediate the relationship between parental monitoring and bully victimization (vs. non-involved) nor bully-victim (vs. non-involved). The findings have important implications for adolescents’ bullying behavior and possible intervention programs by informing researchers and practitioners about the mechanisms surrounding multiple types of bullying behaviors.

Longitudinal associations of parental monitoring and delinquent peer affiliation: The potential influence of parental solicitation and monitoring rules.

Poor parental monitoring has been theorized as a key risk factor for an adolescent's association with deviant peers. However, measurements of parental monitoring often only measure parental knowledge rather than parental monitoring actions, leaving the true longitudinal associations between parental monitoring and peer delinquency unclear. The current sample consisted of 1095 male justice-involved adolescents (13-17 years old at baseline collected between 2011 and 2013) from across the United States who provided survey data every 6 months for 3 years. Longitudinal associations between parental monitoring constructs (i.e., parental solicitation and monitoring rules) and peer delinquency were tested using random intercept cross-lagged panel models to investigate both between-individual associations and within-individual bidirectional effects. Although parental monitoring and peer delinquency were negatively related at a between-individual level, very few within-individual directional effects were found. The few within-individual effects present indicated that parental solicitation predicted greater peer delinquency and peer delinquency predicted fewer parental monitoring rules over time. Current findings indicate that, while greater overall parental monitoring is associated with less peer delinquency, there is little evidence that changes in parental monitoring lead to reductions in peer delinquency over time. Results support previous findings suggesting parental monitoring should not be the sole target of intervention for reducing peer delinquency.

From Family to Peer Systems: Mixed-Methods Study of Spillover Mechanisms on Juvenile Delinquency in China

This article contributes to the field of mixed methods by exemplifying the complementarities of two of the most widely used quantitative and qualitative analytic methods to explore the general pattern of the spillover effects on juvenile delinquency. It employed exploratory sequential and convergent mixed-methods. To ensure validity and reliability of the measurement items, the exploratory sequential mixed research design guided construction of the questionnaire and data collection. Structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analyses corroborated the empirical findings. Results from the mixed-methods analyses showed the significance of marital conflict’s spillover effects on juvenile delinquency and recognized the multiple paths through which youth mental health problems and delinquent peer associations operate as key mechanisms connecting marital conflict to juvenile delinquency.

A Path from Traditional Bullying to Cyberbullying in South Korea: Examining the Roles of Self-Control and Deviant Peer Association in the Different Forms of Bullying.

Despite a recent growth in studies on cyberbullying, extant knowledge on the underlying mechanisms of cyberbullying remain limited. The objective of the present study is to explore the dynamics of cyberbullying via traditional bullying, self-control, and delinquent peer association. Specifically, the following hypotheses guide the present study: (1) traditional bullying, low self-control, and delinquent peer association are predictive of cyberbullying, respectively, (2) the interaction between traditional bullying and low self-control has a significant impact on cyberbullying, and (3) the interaction between traditional bullying and delinquent peer association has a significant impact on cyberbullying. The present study relies on five waves of the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS), a representative sample of South Korean adolescents. Data collection occurred annually and respondents were 14years old at the first wave in 2003. KYPS is an almost gender-equal and racially/ethnically homogenous sample. Results of cross-lagged dynamic panel models show (1) significant effects of traditional bullying on cyberbullying with and without low self-control and delinquent peer affiliation, (2) the respective roles of self-control and delinquent peer association in the prediction of cyberbullying, and (3) an interaction effect between low self-control and traditional bullying on cyberbullying. These findings demonstrate the theoretical validity of self-control theory and social learning theory in online delinquent behavior as well as confirm their cross-cultural generalizability in a non-Western sample. The findings also highlight the importance of investing in early life-course prevention/intervention programs and policies to prevent and/or reduce the occurrence of bullying, regardless of whether it is being perpetrated face-to-face or online, and these programs and policies should also target components to improve self-control and reduce delinquent peer associations.

Chasing Environmental Influences on School Grades in Childhood and Adolescence

School performance in childhood and adolescence is an important indicator for social inequality and various life outcomes in adulthood. Previous research confirmed genetic as well as environmental influences on individual differences in school grades, yet little is known on what lies behind the environmental influences. The aim of this study is to identify external covariates that account for variance in school grades and to disentangle genetic and (non–)shared environmental components in the association between these often assumed “environmental” variables and school grades. The sample consists of 2101 pairs of monozygotic and dizygotic same-sex twins (aged 11 and 17) from the German TwinLife study. Multiple regression analysis showed that our measured external variables (e.g., parental behavior, home environment, peer characteristics) explain about 7–9% of variance in the grade point average (GPA) in both age groups. In order to determine genetic and environmental sources of this variance components, we applied a bivariate Cholesky decomposition. Results indicate that after correcting for parental socio-economic status the relation between external covariates and the GPA is entirely due to shared environmental effects at age 11, while the association between the same set of covariates and GPA at age 17 is due to common genetic sources. This pattern largely remains when considering the covariates individually: Effects are strongest for home environment and negative parental involvement in both age groups and additionally for delinquent peer affiliations at age 17. We discuss possible underlying effects of gene × environment interactions and provide implications for further research.

Early Onset Delinquency and Violent Delinquency in Adolescence: The Role of Abusive Parents and Delinquent Peer Associations

Early onset delinquency is a risk factor for offending over the life-course. This study aims to identify factors that modify the link between early onset of delinquency and later violence. Results show that engaging delinquency earlier, associating with deviant friends, and experiencing parental abuse have independent impacts on increased risk of violence. Also, early onset has positive interactions with peer delinquency and parental abuse. These findings enhance our understanding of the mechanisms through which early onset of delinquency is related to later violence and imply the importance of family- and school-based early interventions. Findings also highlight the importance of considering interactions between early onset delinquency and social risk factors in refining theories used to explain violence throughout the life course.

The Moderating Effect of Prosocial Peers on the Relationships Between Peer Delinquency, Neutralization, and Violent Offending

The goal of the current investigation was to determine whether prosocial peer associations can serve as protective factors by interacting with key components of the peer influence effect. A moderated mediation analysis performed on 2,474 youth (52% female) from the Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT) study (mean age = 12.13 years) revealed that Wave 2 prosocial peer associations moderated the peer delinquency–neutralization relationship. Alternately, Wave 3 prosocial peer associations moderated the neutralization–violent offending relationship. Hence, neutralization beliefs were disproportionately weaker in participants with fewer delinquent peer associations and more prosocial peer associations, whereas the effect of neutralization on delinquency was attenuated, though not eliminated, by strong prosocial peer associations. These results suggest that prosocial peer associations may serve a protective function at different points in the peer influence sequence and that they may be more than simply the converse of peer delinquency.

Moderating effects of delinquent peer association, social control, and negative emotion on cyberbullying and delinquency: Gender differences.

Under the integrated model of General Strain Theory (GST), the present study sought to examine whether delinquent peer association, social control, and negative emotion moderated the relations of distinctive cyberbullying roles with delinquency, as well as whether the moderating effects varied by gender among a nationally representative sample of American adolescents. Based on the data from the 2009-2010 Health Behavior in School-Aged Children study in the U.S., hierarchical moderated tobit regressions were conducted to test the potential moderating effects and gender differences. Adolescents involved in cyberbullying as different roles were more likely to engage in physical fight and substance use than noninvolved peers. The relationships remained significant after controlling for delinquent peer association, social control, and negative emotion, except for the relation of being cyber-victims with substance use. In addition, delinquent peer association conditioned the relationships of three cyberbullying roles with physical fight, while negative emotion moderated the relations of being cyberbullies or cyberbully-victims with substance use. Certain gender differences were found for the moderating effects of social control/delinquent peer association on cyberbullying roles related to physical fight and substance use. The findings suggest that GST may be useful for explaining the relations of distinctive cyberbullying roles with delinquency. Differentiating such relationships and the relevant moderating effects can be important in understanding adolescent violence and substance use. Cyberbullying-involved boys and girls under certain conditions are more vulnerable to react with violence and substance use in response to strains derived from cyberbullying experiences. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Developmental Trajectories and Predictors of Delinquent Peer Association

ABSTRACT Although the important relationship between age and peers is well-known, relatively little empirical attention has focused on heterogeneous patterns of deviant peer association over time. In light of this, the current study assessed developmental trajectories of peer delinquency and examined criminological factors that explain such patterns. Five waves of data from the Korean Youth Panel Survey (KYPS) were analyzed through group-based trajectory modeling. Results identified six delinquent peer trajectory groups and revealed that juveniles are likely to associate with peers with similar levels of criminal propensity (such as self-control and early onset of delinquency), but this relationship was also influenced by unstructured socialization. Such findings suggest that the nature of delinquent peer association is complex and shaped by a range of factors which require comprehensive examination. Implications and limitations are discussed.

Cyberbullying and Delinquency in Adolescence: The Potential Mediating Effects of Social Attachment and Delinquent Peer Association

Adopting the integrated model of General Strain Theory (GST), the current study tested the relations between cyberbullying roles (i.e., cyberbully, cybervictim, and cyberbully-victim) and delinquent behaviors (i.e., physical fighting and substance use), as well as the potential mediating effects of delinquent peer association and perceived social attachment from parents, friends, and teachers. This was conducted in a cross-sectional sample of 12,642 American adolescents via the use of structural equation models. The results indicated that being involved in cyberbullying might be not only directly associated with an increase in delinquent behaviors, but also indirectly via delinquent peer associations and perceived social attachment from parents, friends, and teachers. Furthermore, both direct and indirect (mediating) relationships between cyberbullying and delinquency might depend upon specific cyberbullying roles and the types of delinquency. Potential implications for prevention and intervention strategies were discussed.

Perceiving teachers as procedurally just limits the negative effects of delinquent peer associations: An analysis of Australian adolescent boys’ and girls’ perceptions of school authority

AbstractThis research addressed whether perceptions of antisocial peers play a role in shaping individual perceptions of the legitimacy of school authority figures in young people. Using data from a sample of 102 young people from Brisbane, Australia, who participated in the Ability School Engagement Program, we examined whether associating with peers who engage in antisocial behavior was related to perceptions of the legitimacy of school authority over time. Mixed‐effects linear regression analyses indicated that associations with antisocial peers were related to poorer perceptions of school authority over a 2‐year period. We also found that antisocial peer associations had a bigger impact on perceptions of school legitimacy for girls compared to boys. These relationships, however, were not statistically significant when perceptions of school procedural justice were controlled for, suggesting the important role of school procedural justice in shaping perceptions of school legitimacy, even among young people who associate with more antisocial peers.