Poster #91 - Family Expressiveness Moderates the Relation Between Temperamental Disinhibition and Peer Delinquency

• In Event: 3-206 - Poster Session 13
  In Poster Session: PS 13 Section - Family Context & Processes

Integrative Statement

Delinquent peer affiliation is associated with problematic adjustment across multiple domains in young adulthood (Fergusson et al., 2002). An adolescent’s tendency to affiliate with delinquent peers may be influenced by child-specific characteristics such as sensation seeking or disinhibition (Li et al., 2016; Wills, Sand, & Yaeger, 2000). Nevertheless, not all youth high in sensation seeking become involved with delinquent peers, suggesting contextual factors may moderate this relation. One potential moderator is family expressiveness; specifically, among expressive families, individuals are encouraged to act openly and express their feelings directly, which may foster positive peer relationships and therefore decrease risk for peer delinquency. However, family expressiveness also may preclude disinhibited youth from engaging in appropriate coping strategies and emotion regulation, but research is wanting. To examine this question, we tested whether family expressiveness moderated the relation between youth disinhibition and subsequent peer delinquency.

Participants were 775 youth (69% male, 76% Caucasian) assessed at three time points (Time 1, M = 10.95 ± 0.88 years; Time 2, M = 12.99 ± 0.95 years; Time 3, M = 15.50 ± 0.56 years). At Time 1, mothers reported on family expressiveness using the Family Environment Scale (Moos & Moos, 1974). At Time 2, adolescents reported on their disinhibition using the Sensation Seeking Scale (Caprara et al., 1985). At Time 3, adolescents reported on their affiliation with delinquent peers using the Peer Delinquency Scale (Loeber et al., 1998).

Regression analyses included age, sex, disinhibition, family expressiveness, and the disinhibition×family expressiveness interaction term. There was a significant main effect of disinhibition on peer delinquency (β = .14, p < .001), suggesting youth higher in disinhibition demonstrate higher levels of peer delinquency. The disinhibition×family expressiveness interaction term predicted adolescent peer delinquency (β = .08, p = .043), indicating that family expressiveness moderated the relation between disinhibition and peer delinquency. Post hoc probing indicated that the simple slope was significant among youth with higher (B = 2.47, p < .001) and lower (B = 2.30, p < .001) family expressiveness (Figure 1). Thus, in the context of high family expressiveness, high disinhibition was associated with greater peer delinquency than low disinhibition. In the context of low family expressiveness, high disinhibition was also associated with greater peer delinquency than low disinhibition.

Findings suggest that expressiveness among families with disinhibited youth may be a proxy for permitting youth to exhibit dysregulated emotions and underuse coping strategies, and/or suggest that families may exhibit poor boundaries or lax discipline. Moreover, encouragement to express one’s feelings may have an adverse effect among disinhibited children if parents do not appropriately model emotion expression and/or do not respond to disruptive emotional expression in adaptive ways. Future research should examine potential mediators to explain the relation between high family expressiveness and peer delinquency, as well as examine additional aspects of family functioning (e.g., parenting practices, interparental discord) that may serve as risk or protective factors for peer delinquency. Additionally, these findings suggest that interventions targeting peer delinquency should include family components, particularly for youth with elevated disinhibition.

Authors

• Lindsay Myerberg, Temple University
  Presenting Author

• Deborah A.G. Drabick, Temple University
  Non-Presenting Author

• Maureen Reynolds, University of Pittsburgh
  Non-Presenting Author