Poster #200 - Does SES Moderate the Effects of Self-Regulation on Depression and Delinquency in Early Adolescence?

• In Event: 3-159 - Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Section - Social, Emotional, Personality

Integrative Statement

Self-regulation is an established antecedent of numerous forms of adjustment from childhood onward. In adolescence, youth who struggle to control their emotions, attention, and behavior report heightened symptoms of depression and involvement in delinquency. Recently, scholars have sought to understand the degree to which the associations between self-regulation and adjustment are contingent upon familial socioeconomic status (SES), which is in itself a risk factor for maladaptive outcomes. Such studies have revealed that high regulation is particularly beneficial for older adolescents and young adults from low SES backgrounds in protecting against depression, substance use, and externalizing problems (Troy et al., 2017), and in promoting achievement (McDermott, 2018). As these investigations have largely focused on late adolescence and emerging adulthood, it remains unclear whether such conditional effects are present earlier in the teen years. Drawing on a large national sample of young adolescents, the current inquiry evaluates whether maternal education (i.e., as a proxy for SES) moderates the effect of self-regulation on delinquency and depression over two years.

Data were drawn from two waves of the CNLSY-79 (N = 693 mother-child dyads; 47.2% girls, 23.4% Hispanic, 38.7% Black, 38% European American). In 1992 (i.e., youths ages 10-11 years), mothers reported on their educational achievement and about adolescents’ self-regulation via interviews and questionnaires. Adolescents responded to questionnaires measuring depression and delinquency in 1992 and 1994 (i.e., at ages 12-13 years).
Hypotheses were tested using hierarchical regressions (see Table 1). High self-regulation and maternal education predicted low delinquency, though their interaction mitigated the main effect of self-regulation. Youth whose mothers had a high school diploma reported low delinquency, but this effect was particularly pronounced for those with high regulation (see Figure 1). For those whose mothers lacked a diploma, high self-regulation was a liability for delinquency. For depression, there was a modest effect of prior self-regulation that was mitigated by the inclusion of maternal education. There was no evidence of moderation, as the primary predictors of depression were prior symptoms and sex.
Contradicting findings from prior studies, the present study indicates that the patterns evidenced in late adolescence and emerging adulthood are not present for these two adjustment indicators in early adolescence. For depression in early adolescence, high self-regulation does not mitigate the impacts of low familial SES. For delinquency, high self-regulation placed low SES teens at particularly elevated risk. Teens who lack financial supports may leverage their self-regulatory abilities in order to be successful delinquents (e.g., those who can control their feelings and behavior may be better able to engage in petty crimes than their comparatively dysregulated and deprived peers). The poster will test alternate SES indicators as moderators, in addition to discuss the implications for intervention.

Author

• Kristin L. Moilanen, West Virginia University
  Presenting Author