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Disruptiveness, Friends' Characteristics, and Delinquency in Early Adolescence: A Test of Two Competing Models of Development
Author(s) -
Vitaro Frank,
Tremblay Richard E.,
Kerr Margaret,
Pagani Linda,
Bukowski William M.
Publication year - 1997
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.1467-8624.1997.tb04229.x
Subject(s) - juvenile delinquency , psychology , developmental psychology , conduct disorder , peer group , human factors and ergonomics , differential association , poison control , injury prevention , association (psychology) , adolescent development , medicine , environmental health , psychotherapist
This study tested 2 competing models of friends' influence on the development of delinquency in disruptive boys. In so diong, we examined whether highly disruptive, moderately diseuptive, moderately conforming, and highly conforming boys' delinquecy increased or decreased depeniding on their friends' characteristics. A sample of 868 boys was classified into the 4 groups according to teacher tating at ages 11 and 12. Each group was then subdivided by mutual friends' peer‐rate aggressiveness‐disturbance at the same ages: aggressive‐disturbing friends, average friends, nonaggressive‐nondisturbing friends, and no friends. Subgroups were mext compared on self‐reported delinquency at age 13 while controlling for average self‐reported delinquency and socioeconomic variables at ages 11 and 12. Results indicate that moderately disruptive boys with aggressivedisturbive friends were more delinquent at age 13 than other subgroups of moderately disruptive boys. Highly disrupitve and confroming boys, however, were unaffected by their friends' characteristics. We conclude that the results partially support each theoretical model, suggesting that both individual characteristics and deviant peer association might play causal roles.