Disentangling links from peers and parents to youth delinquency: A longitudinal, sibling comparison analysis

• In Event: Poster Session 12
  In Poster Session: PS 12 Topic - Developmental Psychopathology

Abstract

Antisocial behavior (AB) in childhood and adolescence foretell wide-ranging problems in adulthood (e.g. Fergusson et al., 2005; Stattin & Magnusson, 1989). Thus, advances in understanding the development of AB are of great value to public health. Although many factors are correlated with AB, parents and peers are considered the main social contributors; however, the magnitude and mechanisms of these influences have been long-debated, as there is still a level of difficulty interpreting research findings (Walters, 2019).
Longitudinal and genetically informative designs can aid in the identification of potentially causal processes involving environmental factors (Kendler et al., 2008). A longitudinal research design helps establish direction of effect, and the comparison of siblings helps rule out confounding influences associated with peers, parenting, and delinquency (e.g. ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and the fixed family characteristics shared by siblings).
This study employed a longitudinal, sibling-comparison design to test if (1) parental monitoring (PM) moderates selection effects - the relationship between the child's early delinquency and subsequent delinquent peer exposure (DPE) - such that the influence of early delinquency on DPE will be smaller at high levels of PM, (2) PM has an indirect, protective effect against delinquency via its intermediate protective effects against DPE, and (3) PM moderates socialization effects - the influence of DPE on later delinquency - such that the influence of DPE will be smaller at high levels of PM. This study analyzed data from 11,514 participants from the Children of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youths.
Population (i.e., between-family) and sibling-comparison (i.e., within-family) models were tested. The population model included baseline levels of delinquency, sex, maternal age at childbirth, birth order, maternal delinquency, maternal IQ, ethnicity, and family income as covariates. Population analyses provided evidence for the presence of selection effects (b = 0.14, p < .001), but no evidence of PM moderating selection effects. DPE did not significantly mediate the association between PM and later delinquency, but it did mediate the relationship between early delinquency and later delinquency, b = 0.02, p = .001. We also found evidence for socialization effects, where DPE and PM significantly predicted later delinquency (b = 0.06, p = .041 and b = -0.07, p = .022, respectively). However, the interaction between PM and DPE was not predictive of later delinquency.
Sibling comparison analysis revealed a significant interaction between PM and delinquency in predicting DPE (b = -0.09, p = .040), such that the association between baseline delinquency and DPE was stronger at lower levels of PM. The test of the indirect effect indicated that DPE did not mediate the association between PM and delinquency. However, DPE significantly mediated the association between early and later delinquency, b = 0.01, p = .015. Finally, the interaction between PM and DPE was not predictive of delinquency. The present findings provide support for an environmentally mediated effect of DPE and suggest that PM may act to suppress the link from earlier delinquency to later DPE. These results clarify how parents and peers influence development of youth delinquency.

Authors

• Lara Khalifeh, University of Dayton
  Presenting Author

• Jackson A. Goodnight
  Non-Presenting Author