The significance of reciprocal and unilateral friendships for peer victimization in adolescence.

The present study examined to what extent the number of friends and their social and personal characteristics were related to peer victimization in adolescence. Participants were 2,180 adolescents (1,143 girls), aged 11-18 (M = 14.2), who were classified as victims, bully-victims, or non-involved (i.e., adolescents who neither bullied others nor were victimized by others). Three types of friends were distinguished: reciprocal friends, desired friends (who were unilaterally nominated by a target adolescent) and choosing friends (who unilaterally nominated a target adolescent). Between-group comparisons of the three types of friends showed that victims had fewer reciprocal and choosing friends than non-involved adolescents. Compared to bully-victims and non-involved adolescents, victims had reciprocal friends who were socially less well adjusted. No differences existed with respect to the characteristics of the desired friends. In general, victims' choosing friends scored less positive on the personal characteristics than bully-victims' and non-involved adolescents' choosing friends. Within-group comparisons revealed that victims' reciprocal friends showed lower adjustment than victims' desired friends, but higher adjustment than their choosing friends. For bully-victims and non-involved adolescents, such differences between their three types of friends were largely absent. Our findings seem to suggest that victims' reciprocal friendships may not be totally default associations and that out of all possible friends, victims might tend to select those who score most positive on personal or social factors.

Frequency and seriousness of parental offending and their impact on juvenile offending.

The present study investigated to what extent the frequency and seriousness of parental offending were related to their offspring offending. Police officers in one Dutch province completed a form to register risk factors and the actions undertaken when they came into contact with offenders aged 8-14 years. These juveniles were followed for 18 months to establish whether or not they committed more crimes. In addition, the parents of these children were traced in the police criminal record systems. Data were gathered from 577 children and their parents. Of these children, 34% were exposed to parental criminality, of which 33 delinquents had two criminal parents and 163 had one criminal parent. If both parents were criminal, the child had the highest frequency of offending. Further, the frequency of parental offending was positively related to the frequency of the child's offending. Concerning the seriousness of juvenile crimes, the seriousness of the committed offences of the father showed a positive relation with the seriousness of his child's offending. Unexpectedly, a negative association was found between the seriousness of maternal offending and the seriousness of her child offending. These results offered a better understanding of the influence that parents with a criminal history have on their children. Further research is needed to identify mechanisms underlying this relationship in order to provide appropriate prevention and intervention strategies.

Short-term criminal pathways: type and seriousness of offense and recidivism.

In this longitudinal study, the authors investigated short-term criminal pathways of children and early adolescents starting under the age of 14 years and the extent to which characteristics of the 1st crime influenced criminal pathways. Participants were 387 juvenile offenders with a mean age of 12.1 years (SD = 2.05 years). The authors followed all participants in the police systems for 2 years to get insight into the crimes that they committed. Then, 2 years after the 1st police contact, 46.5% of these offenders were still considered 1st offenders, and 53.5% had become recidivists. Most of the children began their criminal pathway with less serious covert crimes. Further analyses showed that when the 1st crime was a serious overt crime, the risk of recidivism within 1 year increased. The likelihood of committing a serious overt crime increased with age. The results supported the authors' hypotheses in that juvenile offenders who committed both overt and covert delinquent acts had the highest rates of offense, were more aggressive, and committed more serious offenses. Furthermore, children who committed only overt crimes developed even more serious criminal pathways.

Early adolescent empathy, parental support, and antisocial behavior.

In this two-wave prospective study, the authors investigated whether level of dispositional affective empathy moderated the association between parental support and antisocial behavior in early adolescents. The sample consisted of 823 Dutch boys and girls (mean age = 12.8 years) enrolled in the first year of secondary education. Higher levels of affective empathy were associated with less delinquent and aggressive behavior. Contrary to expectations, structural equation modeling did not indicate that youth with higher levels of affective empathy were susceptible to parental support. Further analyses showed that gender moderated the association between parental support and future delinquent and aggressive behavior. Only for girls, were high levels of parental support associated with lower levels of antisocial behavior.

Stability in bullying and victimization and its association with social adjustment in childhood and adolescence.

This study examined the concurrent and longitudinal associations between stability in bullying and victimization, and social adjustment in childhood and adolescence. Participants were 189 girls and 328 boys who were studied in primary school and in secondary school. The mean age of the participants was 11.1 years in primary school and 14.1 years in secondary school. The measures consisted of peer reported social and personal characteristics. Children who bullied in childhood and adolescence were less liked and more disliked in childhood, and more aggressive and disruptive both in childhood and adolescence, than children who bullied only in childhood or adolescence. Children who bullied or who were victimized only in childhood did not differ largely in adolescence from the children that were never bullies or victims. Children who were victimized in adolescence closely resembled those who were victimized in childhood and adolescence in terms of being liked or disliked, being nominated as a friend, and shyness. The study stresses the need to distinguish between stable and transient bullies and victims.

Implemented as intended? Recording family worker activities in a Families First program.

In evaluating family preservation services, it is important not only to study the service outcomes and the family characteristics, but also what actually happens during the treatment. This requires a program model. This article describes how a program model works, prescribes how workers should carry it out, and describes how researchers should measure the program's characteristics. The authors use data from Families First in The Netherlands to test the model. Results show that the method of the program meets the specified characteristics. The results are important for treatment, policy, education, and evaluation research.

The implementation of families first in The Netherlands: a one year follow-up.

This study examined whether the American family preservation program Families First was successfully implemented in The Netherlands. Data were collected on 250 children of 177 families who received Families First. At the start of treatment 78% of the children appeared to have serious behavioral problems, 67% of the parents experienced a high level of parental stress, and 63% of the children went through a substantial number of life events during the year preceding the treatment. On average the treatments had the intended duration (about 4 weeks), intensity (about 10 hours a week) and availability (during working hours as well as in evenings and in weekends), and family workers did adhere to important guidelines of treatment delivery. One year after treatment 76% of the children were still living at home. Moreover, children's behavioral problems, parental stress and the number of life events turned out to be significantly decreased. It was concluded that Families First had reached its intended target group, delivered the treatment as intended, and achieved its intended outcomes, suggesting a successful implementation in The Netherlands.