Poster #165 - Parental Marital Quality and Female Juvenile Arrest: The Mediating Role of Substance Use

• In Event: ASC Poster Session II

Abstract

While General Strain Theory explains how family stress leads to deviance via negative emotions, few studies have investigated whether this pathway involves substance use leading to criminal justice system contact among female adolescents. This study investigates whether adolescent girls’ substance use mediates the association between parental marital quality and subsequent juvenile arrest. Using data from 1,575 female respondents in the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, a generalized structural equation model was estimated. Results showed that higher levels of parental marital quality were associated with lower levels of substance use, which in turn reduced the likelihood of arrest. The relationship between marital quality and arrest was significantly mediated by substance use. These findings underscore the importance of family dynamics in shaping adolescent girls’ behavioral outcomes and highlight substance use as a key mechanism linking family strain to justice system involvement.

Author

• Sunmin Hong, The University of Texas at Dallas