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Developmental associations between externalizing behaviors, peer delinquency, drug use, perceived neighborhood crime, and violent behavior in urban communities
Author(s) -
Brook David W.,
Brook Judith S.,
Rubenstone Elizabeth,
Zhang Chenshu,
Saar Naomi S.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
aggressive behavior
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.223
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 1098-2337
pISSN - 0096-140X
DOI - 10.1002/ab.20397
Subject(s) - juvenile delinquency , psychology , injury prevention , poison control , human factors and ergonomics , developmental psychology , suicide prevention , young adult , peer group , structural equation modeling , early adulthood , occupational safety and health , ethnic group , medicine , medical emergency , statistics , mathematics , pathology , sociology , anthropology
This study examines the precursors of violent behavior among urban, racial/ethnic minority adults. Data are from an on‐going study of male and female African Americans and Puerto Ricans, interviewed at four time waves, Time 1–Time 4 (T1–T4), from adolescence to adulthood. Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the developmental pathways, beginning in mid‐adolescence (T1; age = 14.0 years), to violent behavior in adulthood (T4; age = 29.2 years). The variables assessed were: components of externalizing behaviors (i.e., rebelliousness, delinquency; T1, T3); illicit drug use (T2); peer delinquency (T2); perceived neighborhood crime (T4); and violent behavior (T3, T4). Results showed that the participants' externalizing behaviors (rebelliousness and delinquency) were relatively stable from mid‐adolescence (T1; age = 14.0 years) to early adulthood (T3; age = 24.4 years). The participants' externalizing behaviors in mid‐adolescence also had a direct pathway to peer delinquency in late adolescence (T2; age = 19.1 years). Peer delinquency, in turn, had a direct pathway to the participants' illicit drug use in late adolescence (T2), and to externalizing behaviors in early adulthood (T3). The participants' illicit drug use (T2; age = 19.1 years) had both direct and indirect paths to violent behavior in adulthood (T4). The participants' externalizing behaviors in early adulthood (T3) were linked with violent behavior at T3, and perceived neighborhood crime (T4), both of which had direct pathways to violent behavior in adulthood (T4). The findings suggest developmental periods during which externalizing behaviors, exposure to delinquent peers, illegal drug use, and neighborhood crime could be targeted by prevention and intervention programs in order to reduce violent behavior. Aggr. Behav. 37:349–361, 2011. © 2011 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.