A Cross-Lagged Panel Study: Parent-Child Communication, Parental Knowledge, and Children’s Delinquent Behaviors in Korea

• In Event: Poster Session 11
  In Poster Session: PS 11 Topic - Race, Ethnicity, Culture, Context

Abstract

There are few longitudinal cohort studies examining bidirectional associations among parent and child communication, parental knowledge, and children’s delinquent behaviors, particularly in South Korea. Using a nationally representative longitudinal sample, this study examined the role of Korean children’s communication with parents played in the association between parents’ knowledge of children’s activities and children’s delinquency.
This study analyzed the 2003-2008 Korean Youth Panel Study (KYPS) consisting of two cohorts: 2,844 children and adolescents (Cohort 1) in grades 4 through 8 (54% boys at T1) and 3,449 adolescents (Cohort 2) in grades 8 through 12 (50% boys at T1). Delinquent behaviors were measured by asking participants if they had done any of 16 behaviors for Cohort 1 (e.g., jaywalking”) and 14 more serious items for Cohort 2 (e.g., smoking, drinking). Children’s communication with parents was measured using three items (e.g., “My parents and I candidly talk about everything”). Parental knowledge was measured using four items (e.g., “When I go out, my parents usually know what I do”). Cross-lagged analysis was conducted using Mplus.
As shown in Figures 1 and 2, in both cohorts, the cross-lagged associations between child-parent communication and parental knowledge were positive and found in each year. The direct cross-lagged associations between child-parent communication and increases in subsequent delinquent behaviors were negative and found more frequently in the older cohort. In these cases, parental knowledge had its effects on decreases in delinquent behaviors via communication with children (all mediational paths were significant when analyzed combining the two gender groups). Cross-lagged associations between parental knowledge and delinquent behaviors were also negative, and found in both cohorts.
The negative association between delinquent behavior and subsequent decreases in parental knowledge in the younger group (in 3 out of 4 cases) was consistent with previous prior research (e.g., Kerr, Stattin and Burk, 2010). With one exception, this pattern was not found in the older cohort. In the older cohort, associations between parental knowledge and communication on the one hand, and subsequent delinquent behavior on the other, supported a parent effects model. At all time points, earlier parental communication and/or knowledge predicted subsequent decreases in delinquency. In Korea most after-school time in adolescence is spent in extra-curricular classes to prepare for a college scholastic ability test. There is less leeway for delinquent behavior, and parents know where their children are. Thus, in adolescence parents may have more influence over their children than vice versa. Furthermore, parental communication had direct links with subsequent decreases in delinquency only after age 11. This may have occurred because children were entering the formal operational stage and parental reasoning about delinquency may better resonate with children at that point. At earlier ages, parents may directly control children’s behavior based upon the knowledge they have (which may have been derived from earlier communication); reasoning with children may not be as effective in directly influencing behavior. The study demonstrates the importance of considering context and the age of children when accounting for how parent-child communication and parental knowledge are related to delinquency.

Authors

• Seunghee Han, Hollins University
  Presenting Author

• Duane Rudy, University of Missouri - Columbia
  Non-Presenting Author

• Mansoo Yu, University of Missouri
  Non-Presenting Author