Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T23:33:45.407Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Peer relationship antecedents of delinquent behavior in late adolescence: Is there evidence of demographic group differences in developmental processes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 April 2005

ROBERT D. LAIRD
Affiliation:
Louisiana State University
GREGORY S. PETTIT
Affiliation:
Auburn University
KENNETH A. DODGE
Affiliation:
Duke University
JOHN E. BATES
Affiliation:
Indiana University

Abstract

A longitudinal prospective design was used to test the generalizability of low levels of social preference and high levels of antisocial peer involvement as risk factors for delinquent behavior problems to African American (AA) and European American (EA) boys and girls (N = 384). Social preference scores were computed from peer reports in middle childhood (ages 6–9). Parents and adolescents reported antisocial peer involvement in early adolescence (ages 13–16) and adolescents reported on their own delinquent behavior in late adolescence (ages 17 and 18). Analyses tested for differences across four groups (AA boys, EA boys, AA girls, EA girls) in construct measurement, mean levels, and associations among variables. Few measurement differences were found. Mean-level differences were found for social preference and delinquent behavior. AA boys were least accepted by peers and reported the highest level of delinquent behavior. EA girls were most accepted by peers and reported the lowest level of delinquent behavior. Associations among peer experiences and delinquent behavior were equivalent across groups, with lower levels of social preference and higher levels of antisocial peer involvement associated with more delinquent behavior. Person-centered analyses showed the risk associated with low social preference and high antisocial peer involvement to be similar across groups, providing further evidence of the generalizability of the peer relationship experiences as risk factors for subsequent delinquent behavior problems.This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of Mental Health (MH 42498, MH 57095) and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (HD 30572 to G.S.P., K.A.D., and J.E.B.). We are grateful to the Child Development Project families for their participation. Special thanks to Jennifer Burczyk–Brown for her help in managing the analyses and to Michael M. Criss for his comments on an early version of the manuscript. This article has been approved for publication by the Director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station (manuscript 03-36-104).

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 2005 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Child Behavior Checklist and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.
Allen, L., & Mitchell, C. (1998). Racial and ethnic differences in patterns of problematic and adaptive development: An epidemiological review. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 2954). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Arbuckle, J. L. (1999). Amos 4.0 [computer software]. Chicago: Smallwaters.
Barrera, M., Jr., Castro, F. G., & Biglan, A. (1999). Ethnicity, substance use, and development: Exemplars for exploring group differences and similarities. Development and Psychopathology 11, 805822.Google Scholar
Byrne, B. M. (2001). Structural equation modeling with AMOS. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Cairns, R. B., Cairns, B. D., Neckerman, H. J., Gest, S. D., & Gariepy, J. L. (1988). Social networks and aggressive behavior: Peer support or peer rejection? Developmental Psychology 24, 815823.Google Scholar
Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1998). Aggression and antisocial behavior. In W. Damon & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., pp. 779862). New York: Wiley.
Coie, J. D., Dodge, K. A., & Coppotelli, H. (1982). Dimensions and types of social status: A cross-age perspective. Developmental Psychology 18, 557570.Google Scholar
Coie, J., Terry, R., Lenox, K., Lochman, J., & Hyman, C. (1995). Childhood peer rejection and aggression as predictors of stable patterns of adolescent disorder. Development and Psychopathology 7, 697713.Google Scholar
Crick, N. R., & Grotpeter, J. K. (1995). Relational aggression, gender, and social-psychological adjustment. Child Development 66, 710722.Google Scholar
Dishion, T. J., Patterson, G. R., & Griesler, P. C. (1994). Peer adaptations in the development of antisocial behavior: A confluence model. In L. R. Huesmann (Ed.), Aggressive behavior: Current perspectives. Plenum series in social/clinical psychology (pp. 6195). New York: Plenum Press.
Dodge, K. A. (1986). A social information processing model of social competence in children. In M. Perlmutter (Ed.), Minnesota Symposium on Child Psychology (Vol. 18, pp. 77125). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Dodge, K. A., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (1990). Mechanisms in the cycle of violence. Science 250, 16781683.Google Scholar
Dodge, K. A., & Pettit, G. S. (2003). A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence. Developmental Psychology 39, 349371.Google Scholar
Ellickson, P. L., & McGuigan, K. A. (2000). Early predictors of adolescent violence. American Journal of Public Health 90, 566572.Google Scholar
Erickson, K. G., Crosnoe, R., & Dornbusch, S. M. (2000). A social process model of adolescent deviance: Combining social control and differential association perspectives. Journal of Youth & Adolescence 29, 395425.Google Scholar
Farrell, A. D., Kung, E. M., White, K. S., & Valois, R. F. (2000). The structure of self-reported aggression, drug use, and delinquent behaviors during early adolescence. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology 29, 282292.Google Scholar
Fergusson, D. M., & Horwood, L. J. (1999). Prospective childhood predictors of deviant peer affiliations in adolescence. Journal of Child Psychology & Psychiatry & Allied Disciplines 40, 581592.Google Scholar
Fleck, G. (1982). On the use of self-report data to determine the class distribution of criminal and delinquent behavior. American Sociological Review 47, 427432.Google Scholar
Gibbs, J. T. (1998). High-risk behaviors in African American youth: Conceptual and methodological issues in research. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 5586). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Grunbaum, J. A., Kann, L., Kinchen, S. A., Williams, B., Ross, J. G., Lowry, R., & Kolbe, L. (2002). Youth risk behavior surveillance—United States, 2001. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 51(June 28, SS-4), 121.Google Scholar
Hill, K. G., Howell, J. C., Hawkins, J. D., & Battin–Pearson, S. R. (1999). Childhood risk factors for adolescent gang membership: Results from the Seattle Social Development Project. Journal of Research in Crime & Delinquency 36, 300322.Google Scholar
Hirschi, T., Hindelang, M. J., & Weis, J. (1982). Reply to “On the use of self-report data to determine the class distribution of criminal and delinquent behavior.” American Sociological Review 47, 433435.Google Scholar
Hollingshead, A. B. (1975). Four Factor Index of Social Position. Unpublished manuscript, Yale University.
Hu, L.-T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal 6, 155.Google Scholar
Hyde, J. S. (1984). How large are gender differences in aggression? A developmental metanalysis. Developmental Psychology 20, 722736.Google Scholar
Jang, S. J., & Thornberry, T. P. (1998). Self-esteem, delinquent peers, and delinquency: A test of the self-enhancement thesis. American Sociological Review 63, 586598.Google Scholar
Jones, J. M. (1991). Psychological models of race: What have they been and what should they be? In J. D. Goodchilds (Ed.), Psychological perspectives on human diversity in America (pp. 746). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Knight, G. P., & Hill, N. E. (1998). Measurement equivalence in research involving minority adolescents. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 183210). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Kupersmidt, J. B., Coie, J. D., & Dodge, K. A. (1990). The role of poor peer relationships in the development of disorder. In S. R. Asher & J. D. Coie (Eds.), Peer rejection in childhood. Cambridge studies in social and emotional development (pp. 274305). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kupersmidt, J. B., Griesler, P. C., DeRosier, M. E., Patterson, C. J., & Davis, P. W. (1995). Childhood aggression and peer relations in the context of family and neighborhood factors. Child Development 66, 360375.Google Scholar
Laird, R. D., Jordan, K. Y., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (2001). Peer rejection in childhood, involvement with antisocial peers in early adolescence, and the development of externalizing behavior problems. Development and Psychopathology 13, 337354.Google Scholar
Lochman, J. E., & Wayland, K. K. (1994). Aggression, social acceptance, and race as predictors of negative adolescent outcomes. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry 33, 10261035.Google Scholar
Maccoby, E. E., & Jacklin, C. N. (1980). Sex differences in aggression: A rejoinder and reprise. Child Development 51, 964980.Google Scholar
Maggs, J. L., & Hurrelmann, K. (1998). Do substance use and delinquency have differential associations with adolescents' peer relations? International Journal of Behavioral Development 22, 367388.Google Scholar
Matsueda, R. L., & Heimer, K. (1987). Race, family structure, and delinquency: A test of differential association and social control theories. American Sociological Review 52, 826840.Google Scholar
McLoyd, V. C. (1998). Changing demographics in the American population: Implications for research on minority children and adolescents. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 328). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
McLoyd, V.C., & Randolph, S. (1985). Secular trends in the study of Afro-American children: A review of child development, 1936–1980. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development 50(4–5, Serial No. 211), 7892.Google Scholar
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review 100, 674701.Google Scholar
Ogbu, J. U. (1993). Differences in cultural frame of reference. International Journal of Behavioral Development 16, 483506.Google Scholar
Ogbu, J. U. (1994). From cultural differences to differences in cultural frame of reference. In P. M. Greenfield & R. D. Cocking (Eds.), Cross-cultural roots of minority child development (pp. 365391). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Parker, J. G., & Asher, S. R. (1987). Peer relations and later personal adjustment: Are low-accepted children at risk? Psychological Bulletin 102, 357389.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., DeBaryshe, B. D., & Ramsey, E. (1989). A developmental perspective on antisocial behavior. American Psychologist 44, 329335.Google Scholar
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1992). A social learning approach: Vol 4. Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia Press.
Patterson, G. R., & Yoerger, D. (2002). A developmental model for early- and late-onset delinquency. In J. B. Reid, G. R. Patterson, & J. Snyder (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents (pp. 147172). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Rowe, D. C., Vazsonyi, A. T., & Flannery, D. J. (1994). No more than skin deep: Ethnic and racial similarity in developmental process. Psychological Review 101, 396413.Google Scholar
Rubin, K. H., Bukowski, W., & Parker, J. G. (1998). Peer interactions, relationships, and groups. In W. Damon & N. Eisenberg (Eds.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (5th ed., pp. 619700). New York: Wiley.
Schafer, J. L., & Graham, J. W. (2002). Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological Methods 7, 147177.Google Scholar
Silverthorn, P., & Frick, P. J. (1999). Developmental pathways to antisocial behavior: The delayed-onset pathway in girls. Development and Psychopathology 11, 101126.Google Scholar
Snyder, J. (2002). Reinforcement and coercion mechanisms in the development of antisocial behavior: Peer relationships. In J. B. Reid, G. R. Patterson, & J. Snyder (Eds.), Antisocial behavior in children and adolescents (pp. 101122). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Snyder, J., Dishion, T. J., & Patterson, G. R. (1986). Determinants and consequences of associating with deviant peers during preadolescence and adolescence. Journal of Early Adolescence 6, 2943.Google Scholar
Stattin, H., & Kerr, M. (2000). Parental monitoring: A reinterpretation. Child Development 71, 10721085.Google Scholar
Stattin, H., & Magnusson, D. (1996). Antisocial development: A holistic approach. Development and Psychopathology 8, 617645.Google Scholar
Steinberg, L., & Fletcher, A. C. (1998). Data analytic strategies in research on ethnic minority youth. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 279294). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Tabachnick, B. G., & Fidell, L. S. (1996). Using multivariate statistics (3rd ed.). New York: Harper Collins.
Tolan, P. H., Gorman Smith, D., & Henry, D. B. (2003). The developmental ecology of urban males' youth violence. Developmental Psychology 39, 274291.Google Scholar
Tremblay, R. E. (2000). The development of aggressive behavior during childhood: What have we learned in the past century? International Journal of Behavioral Development 24, 129141.Google Scholar
Vitaro, F., Brendgen, M., & Tremblay, R. E. (2000). Influence of deviant friends on delinquency: Searching for moderator variables. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 28, 313325.Google Scholar
Wilson, L. C., & Williams, D. R. (1998). Issues in the quality of data on minority groups. In V. C. McLoyd & L. Steinberg (Eds.), Studying minority adolescents: Conceptual, methodological, and theoretical issues (pp. 237250). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
Wills, T. A., & Cleary, S. D. (1997). The validity of self-reports of smoking: Analyses by race/ethnicity in a school sample of urban adolescents. American Journal of Public Health 87, 5661.Google Scholar