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Self‐Restraint as a Mediator of Family Influences on Boys' Delinquent Behavior: A Longitudinal Study
Author(s) -
Feldman S. Shirley,
Weinberger Daniel A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8624.1994.tb00744.x
Subject(s) - preadolescence , psychology , developmental psychology , longitudinal study , temperament , personality , personality development , construct (python library) , parenting styles , social psychology , computer science , programming language , statistics , mathematics
In the course of social development, family influences seem to become partly internalized and transformed into personality characteristics that regulate behavior outside the family sphere. In a longitudinal study of 81 boys and their families, we hypothesized that individual differences in boys' self‐restraint would serve as a mediator between family factors in preadolescence and sons' delinquent behavior 4 years later. Measures were derived from principal components analyses of multiple indices of each construct as assessed by multiple informants. As expected, parenting practices measured at both pre‐ and mid‐adolescence predicted delinquent acts only indirectly via their association with boys' self‐restraint. In addition, general family functioning at preadolescence, independent of other scores, predicted boys' levels of self‐restraint 4 years later. There was no evidence that boys' self‐restraint at preadolescence systematically affected the quality of parenting that they subsequently received. Parents' and families' role in children's development of self‐regulatory skills may be a primary vehicle by which they ultimately influence adolescents' problem behaviors.