Adolescent ties shape adult lives: Family relationship quality and adolescent delinquency predict adult life-course transitions

• In Event: Family and Intergenerational Perspectives

Abstract

Problematic developmental aspects during adolescence can have significant long-term consequences on crucial life-course transitions in adulthood. This study examines how developmental trajectories of adolescent delinquent behavior, family relationship quality, and pubertal maturation are associated with these transitions, including the timing and quality of the first serious romantic relationship, timing of parenthood, and persistence in delinquent behavior. The longitudinal dataset used in this study was obtained from the Family Transitions Project, which tracked 451 participants and their families from when they were about 13 years old in 1989 until they were 35 years old in 2010. Using Group-Based Multi-Trajectory Modeling to analyze the first four waves, which cover the period of adolescence, we identified three groups of participants with comparable developmental trajectories of adolescent delinquent behavior, family relationship quality, and pubertal maturation. In an Event History Analysis, these groups were then used as predictors of the timing of the first serious romantic relationship and transition to parenthood while controlling for several background variables, such as gender, socioeconomic status, religiousness, and relationship experiences. We also described the groups regarding the quality of the first serious romantic relationship and persistence in delinquent behavior during adulthood.

Authors

• Veroni Eichelsheim, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement

• Arjan Blokland, NSCR

• Monica Martin, Texas Tech University, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Lubbock, TX, USA

• Sjoukje van Deuren, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam

• Quang Nguyen, Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement