Deviant peer affiliation mediates the prospective association from impulsivity to alcohol use in late adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Previous research has found that impulsivity and deviant peer affiliation predict alcohol use among adolescents. However, it remains unclear to what extent these risk factors predict alcohol use in conjunction with one another, and to what extent they predict over and above correlated risk factors, such as pre-existing externalizing problems and sociodemographic characteristics. The present study tested the hypothesis that deviant peer affiliation would mediate the prospective association between impulsivity and alcohol use in adolescence (ages 13-18 years), controlling for a wide range of family and child-level covariates. METHODS: Analyses were conducted using data from 2318 participants from the Longitudinal Cohort Study of the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Participants were approximately 9, 12, or 15 years of age at wave 1 of the study, with waves 2 and 3 taking place at approximately 2-year intervals. The sample composition was 50.3% male, 46.1% Hispanic, 35.6% Black, non-Hispanic, 14.4% White, non-Hispanic, and 3.9% other race/ethnicity. RESULTS: Results from path analyses indicated that the prospective association between impulsivity and alcohol use was mediated by peer deviance, but only for the oldest (age 15) cohort. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from the present study suggest that despite impulsivity being a dispositional characteristic, its effects on alcohol use in later adolescence are achieved through a social pathway, via affiliation with deviant peers. It further suggests that this pathway, especially the link from impulsivity to affiliation with deviant peers, may not operate until late adolescence. Findings suggest that alcohol use may be prevented or reduced among impulsive adolescents by reducing their exposure to delinquent peers.

Examining Sexual Crime Severity in China: A General-specific Model on Sex Offending Against Adults.

Sexual violence severity has long been viewed as a critical factor of sex offending. However, the criminological viewpoints on sexual violence severity have not received much attention, especially in the Chinese context. By integrating general-criminogenic (inhibitory mechanisms) and specific sex offending (learning mechanisms and contextual factors) perspectives, the current study links the propositions of social control (bonds) theory, self-control theory, differential association theory, and the integrated theory of sex offending, proposing a general-specific model for sexual violence severity. Survey data was collected from 250 Chinese offenders who committed sexual offenses against adults. The mediation analysis found that deviant peer association fully mediates the effects of social control and low self-control on sexual violence severity. The moderation analysis showed that substance abuse exaggerates the impact of deviant peer association on sexual violence severity, while sex purchasing mitigates this relationship. This general-specific model may expand our current understanding of sexual violence severity from both criminological and psychological perspectives.

Bidirectional relationship between parental psychological control and adolescent maladjustment.

INTRODUCTION: This study explores the longitudinal and bidirectional relations between paternal/maternal psychological control and adolescent maladjustment (i.e., internalizing symptoms, aggression, and association with deviant peers). METHODS: This longitudinal investigation was conducted at two time points over a one-year interval with participants comprising 543 Chinese adolescents aged 10 to 13 (mean age at Time 1 = 11.29; 51.93% girls). The performed measurements encompassed paternal/maternal psychological control, adolescent internalizing symptoms, aggression, association with deviant peers, and demographic information. RESULTS: The findings of a cross-lagged model analysis revealed that paternal psychological control was longitudinally and positively related to adolescent internalizing symptoms and aggression. Maternal psychological control was not significantly related to any domain of adolescent maladjustment. In turn, adolescent association with deviant peers was longitudinally and positively associated with both parents' psychological control. CONCLUSIONS: Parental psychological control was bidirectionally associated with adolescent maladjustment in general, and paternal psychological control played a crucial role on adolescent maladjustment in the Chinese cultural context. The study's findings supported the reciprocal model of parent-child interaction, and extended it by highlighting the apprehension of the characteristics of parental impact from a cultural perspective. The study results add to the current scholarly understanding of parental psychological control in the non-western cultural context.

Vicarious Victimization, Negative Emotions, and Maladaptive Coping: Investigating the Role of Violent Peers.

According to general strain theory's (GST) vicarious strain hypothesis, individuals' behavior is influenced by witnessing or having knowledge of others' stressful experiences, especially those within their network. Drawing on Agnew's GST, the current study examines the relationship between peer victimization and violent offending, as well as the potential intervening factors in this relationship. The primary research questions are: (a) does vicarious strain occur through having friends who are victimized? And (b) what role does violent peers play in the coping process? Data for the analysis were obtained from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescents to Adult Health's friendship network data. Results from multivariate analysis show that victimization of ones' friend (or peer victimization) is associated with depression as well as personal involvement in violent offending. This relationship, however, is fully mediated by depression. Regarding deviant peers, a three-way interaction effect was observed, specifically peer victimization, involvement with peers, and associating violent peers was a significant predictor of violent offending. Findings from the current study highlight the importance of considering the role of deviant peers in the coping process. Results lend support to Agnew's GST. Implications for theory and research are discussed.

Group versus individual format of intervention for aggressive children: Moderators and predictors of outcomes through 4 years after intervention.

This study originated in collaboration with Thomas Dishion because of concerns that a group format for aggressive children might dampen the effects of cognitive-behavioral intervention. Three hundred sixty aggressive preadolescent children were screened through teacher and parent ratings. Schools were randomized to receive either an individual or a group format of the child component of the same evidence-based program. The results indicate that there is variability in how group-based cognitive-behavioral intervention can affect aggressive children through a long 4-year follow-up after the end of the intervention. Aggressive children who have higher skin conductance reactivity (potentially an indicator of poorer emotion regulation) and who have a variant of the oxytocin receptor gene that may be associated with being hyperinvolved in social bonding have better outcomes in their teacher-rated externalizing behavior outcomes over time if they were seen individually rather than in groups. Analyses also indicated that higher levels of the group leaders' clinical skills predicted reduced externalizing behavior problems. Implications for group versus individual format of cognitive-behavioral interventions for aggressive children, and for intensive training for group therapists, informed by these results, are discussed.

Association of Mental Health Symptoms and Peer Behaviors with Risk for Substance Use and Condomless Sex among Youth in Juvenile Drug Court.

Juvenile drug courts are a growing response to adolescent substance use, but a better understanding of modifiable risk factors is needed to improve program outcomes. Youth's mental health symptoms and peers' activities may impede the effectiveness of these "therapeutic" courts. In a unique longitudinal sample of 105 adolescents involved in juvenile drug court, we find elevated internalizing symptoms and deviant behavior of peers were each associated with increased risk of alcohol and marijuana use. Similar effects were seen on risk for condomless sex. Mental health and peer behaviors should be intervention targets for evidence-based juvenile drug court programming.

Affiliation with substance-using peers: Examining gene-environment correlations among parent monitoring, polygenic risk, and children's impulsivity.

Parental monitoring can buffer the effect of deviant peers on adolescents' substance use by reducing affiliation with substance-using peers. However, children's genetic predispositions may evoke poorer monitoring, contributing to negative child outcomes. We examined evocative genotype-environment correlations underlying children's genetic predisposition for behavioral undercontrol and parental monitoring in early adolescence via children's impulsivity in middle childhood, and the influence of parental monitoring on affiliation with substance-using peers a year and a half later (n = 359). Genetic predisposition for behavioral undercontrol was captured using a polygenic risk score, and a portion of passive rGE was controlled by including parents' polygenic risk scores. Children's polygenic risk predicted poorer parental monitoring via greater children's impulsivity, indicating evocative rGE, controlling for a portion of passive rGE. Poorer parental monitoring predicted greater children's affiliation with substance-using peers a year and a half later. Results are discussed with respect to gene-environment correlations within developmental cascades.

Changing Friend Selection in Middle School: A Social Network Analysis of a Randomized Intervention Study Designed to Prevent Adolescent Problem Behavior.

Adolescent friendships that promote problem behavior are often chosen in middle school. The current study examines the unintended impact of a randomized school-based intervention on the selection of friends in middle school, as well as on observations of deviant talk with friends 5 years later. Participants included 998 middle school students (526 boys and 472 girls) recruited at the onset of middle school (age 11-12 years) from three public middle schools participating in the Family Check-up model intervention. The current study focuses only on the effects of the SHAPe curriculum-one level of the Family Check-up model-on friendship choices. Participants nominated friends and completed measures of deviant peer affiliation. Approximately half of the sample (n = 500) was randomly assigned to the intervention, and the other half (n = 498) comprised the control group within each school. The results indicate that the SHAPe curriculum affected friend selection within school 1 but not within schools 2 or 3. The effects of friend selection in school 1 translated into reductions in observed deviancy training 5 years later (age 16-17 years). By coupling longitudinal social network analysis with a randomized intervention study, the current findings provide initial evidence that a randomized public middle school intervention can disrupt the formation of deviant peer groups and diminish levels of adolescent deviance 5 years later.

What Social Bonds have the Greatest Influence on Patterns of Substance Use among Child-Welfare-Involved Youth?

Child-welfare-involved youth may lack protective social bonds that could reduce their risk of substance use. We investigated whether caregiver, school, or peer bonds predict distinct patterns of substance use among child-welfare-involved youth. The sample included 720 participants in the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being II. Latent class analysis (LCA) and the three-step approach to incorporate indicator variables onto the latent classes were used. We found the following classes: (1) severe polysubstance use; (2) moderate polysubstance use; and (3) low use. Youth bonded to primary caregivers were less likely to be severe polysubstance drug users, but caregiver bonds did not protect against moderate polysubstance use. School bonds protected against severe polysubstance and moderate polysubstance. Youth bonded to deviant peers were more likely to be in the severe polysubstance use and moderate polysubstance use classes. Interventions targeting child-welfare-involved youth need to account for social bonds' effect on substance use.

Longitudinal Effects of Peer, School, and Parenting Contexts on Substance Use Initiation in Middle Adolescence.

Purpose: Preventing substance use initiation (SUI) can reduce negative consequences associated with adult substance use disorder. The role of involvement with deviant peers, school connectedness, and parenting quality on SUI was investigated among a community sample (N = 387).Method: PROCESS tested whether three parenting quality factors (Parental Knowledge and Affective Relationships, Parental Control, and Parental Communication and Involvement) served as moderators of two different mediation pathways (involvement with deviant peers and school connectedness) on three SUI outcomes (alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana).Results: Involvement with deviant peers mediated the relation between school connectedness and substance use. Low school connectedness predicted high deviant peer affiliation, which, in turn, predicted high SUI. School connectedness did not mediate involvement with deviant peers and substance use. Parenting quality factors were not significant moderators.Conclusion: Supporting adolescents who lack strong school connections may help prevent involvement with deviant peers, which, in turn, may prevent SUI.

Risk for substance use among adolescents at-risk for childhood victimization: The moderating role of ADHD.

BACKGROUND: Youth who are victimized by violence are at heightened risk for substance use (SU) during adolescence, a period characterized by elevated impulsivity and risk-taking behavior. This risk may be magnified by attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). OBJECTIVE: To examine risk/protective factors for adolescent SU among adolescents at-risk for victimization and whether ADHD moderates these associations. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Participants were 1058 caregiver-adolescent dyads in the U.S. who participated in the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN). METHOD: Binary logistic regression analyses were conducted for each SU type. First-order effects of all variables were tested first and for each SU outcome, followed by tests of two-way interactions between ADHD group and each predictor, after controlling for first-order effects. RESULTS: More externalizing behavior (odds ratio [OR] = 1.38; 95 % confidence interval [CI]:1.12, 1.71) and less parental knowledge (OR = .75; 95 %CI: .60, .95) were associated with greater risk for subsequent tobacco use. Less positive peer affiliation was associated with greater risk for subsequent illicit SU (OR = .59; 95 %CI: .36, .96). More deviant peer affiliation were associated with greater risk for all forms of SU. ADHD moderated the association between deviant peer affiliation and marijuana use [b = .9, p < .05, 95 %CI: .03, 1.77), such that deviant peer affiliation was a significantly stronger predictor of marijuana use among adolescents with ADHD than those without. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest risk and protective factors for SU are largely consistent for adolescents at-risk for victimization with and without ADHD, but at-risk adolescents with ADHD may be more susceptible to deviant peer influences.

The Role of Violent Video Game Exposure, Personality, and Deviant Peers in Aggressive Behaviors Among Adolescents: A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study.

The impact of violent video game exposure (VVGE) on aggressive behaviors has been extensively explored, but still remains controversial. Although some studies have shown slight detrimental short-term effects of VVGE, other studies have failed to find any consequence. In addition, the existence of long-lasting effects on aggressiveness, or their impact on adolescents, are still not well established. One limitation of most of these studies is that they do not control for other important risk variables for aggressive behaviors, such as personality and deviant peers, nor have they investigated the possible moderation role of these risk factors in the link between VVGE and aggression. Therefore, the main aim was to examine the additive and interactive role of VVGE, personality, and deviant peers in adolescent aggressive behaviors cross-sectionally and longitudinally. Many regression analyses and a cross-lagged autoregressive model were carried out. At both waves, aggressive behavior was predicted by having deviant peers and specific personality traits, especially low agreeableness. VVGE also presented a slight but significant effect at both waves, but it became nonsignificant when controlling for other variables. No long-term effects on the relation between VVGE and aggressive behaviors were found. Some moderation effects were consistently found at both waves: when participants reported having more deviant peers, the effects of VVGE and low agreeableness on aggressive behaviors significantly increased. These findings suggest that multiple biopsychosocial variables and their complex interplay need to be examined to gain a better understanding of the origin and expression of aggressive behavior.

Adolescent-Parent Attachment and Externalizing Behavior: The Mediating Role of Individual and Social Factors.

The aim of this study was to test whether the associations between adolescent-parent attachment and externalizing problem behavior of adolescents were mediated by adolescent cognitive distortions, self-esteem, parental monitoring and association with deviant peers. A total of 102 adolescents (71 % male; aged 12-19 years) at risk for developing delinquent behaviors reported on attachment, parental monitoring, aggressive and delinquent behavior and peers. Mediation effects were tested by using structural equation modeling. Different pathways were found depending on the type of externalizing behavior. The association between attachment and direct and indirect aggressive behavior was mediated by cognitive distortions. The relation between attachment and delinquency was mediated by deviant peers and parental monitoring. We argue that clinical practice should focus on the attachment relationship between adolescent and parents in order to positively affect risk and protective factors for adolescents' aggressive and delinquent behavior.

Correlates of Cumulative Sexual Risk Behaviors among African American Youth Living in Public Housing.

African American youth and especially those who reside in public housing report high rates of sexually transmitted disease (STI) risk behaviors; however, too few studies have examined the correlates of cumulative sexual risk behaviors among this population. This study recruited 298 youth ages 11 to 21 and examined to what degree factors such as age, gender, self-efficacy, substance use, negative peer norms, and delinquency were correlated with cumulative sexual risk behaviors. Major findings indicated that gender, substance use, self-efficacy, and involvement with delinquent peer networks were independent correlates of cumulative sexual risk behaviors, with gender and self-efficacy being the strongest of these factors. Collectively, these findings suggest that gendered approaches to sexual risk reduction among this population are warranted with special content and attention focused on substance abuse risk reduction, improving self-efficacy and managing negative peer influences.

Contextual risks linking parents' adolescent marijuana use to offspring onset.

OBJECTIVE: We studied the extent to which parent marijuana use in adolescence is associated with marijuana use onset in offspring through contextual family and peer risks. METHOD: Fathers assessed (n=93) since childhood, their 146 offspring (n=83 girls), and offspring's mothers (n=85) participated in a longitudinal study. Using discrete-time survival analysis, fathers' (prospectively measured) and mothers' (retrospective) adolescent marijuana use was used to predict offspring marijuana use onset through age 19 years. Parental monitoring, child exposure to marijuana use, peer deviance, peer marijuana use, and perceptions of parent disapproval of child use were measured before or concurrent with onset. RESULTS: Parents' adolescent marijuana use was significantly associated with less monitoring, offspring alcohol use, the peer behaviors, exposure to adult marijuana use, and perceptions of less parent disapproval. Male gender and the two peer behaviors were positively associated with children's marijuana use onset, controlling for their alcohol use. Parents' adolescent marijuana use had a significant indirect effect on child onset through children's deviant peer affiliations and a composite contextual risk score. CONCLUSIONS: Parents' histories of marijuana use may contribute indirectly to children's marijuana use onset through their influence on the social environments children encounter; specifically, those characterized by more liberal use norms, exposure to marijuana use and deviant and marijuana-using peers, and less adult supervision. Given that alcohol use onset was controlled, findings suggest that the contextual factors identified here confer unique risk for child marijuana use onset.

The mediating role of deviant peers on the link between depressed mood and harmful drinking.

PURPOSE: One's peer group can have a strong impact on depressed mood and harmful drinking in adolescence. It remains unclear whether affiliation with deviant peers explains the link between these traits. Our study aims to (1) explore the developmental relationship between harmful drinking and depressed mood in adolescence and (2) establish to which extent affiliation with deviant peers explains this relationship. METHODS: A total of 4,863 adolescents from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children were assessed between the ages of 14 and 16 years. Harmful drinking was established using age-appropriate measures: the Semi-Structured Assessment for the Genetics of Alcoholism in mid-adolescence (age, 14 years) and the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test in late adolescence (age, 16 years). Depressed mood was measured by the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire at both ages. Affiliation with deviant peers was assessed at the age of 15 years. RESULTS: Harmful drinking at the age of 14 years predicted depressed mood 2 years later. This association was explained by affiliation with deviant peers and remained present even after adjustment for earlier depressed mood. Depressed mood at the age of 14 years predicted harmful drinking at the age of 16 years via affiliation with deviant peers; however, this indirect effect disappeared when adjusting for adolescents' earlier harmful alcohol use (age, 14 years). No gender differences were observed. CONCLUSIONS: Adolescents who engage in early harmful drinking and subsequently become affiliated with a deviant peer group may be at particular risk of later depressed mood.

Delinquent behavior, poor relationship quality with parents, and involvement with deviant peers in delinquent and nondelinquent adolescents: different processes, informant bias, or both?

The aim of this study was to determine whether two risk factors that are frequently selected as targets for prevention and intervention purposes-involvement with deviant peers and parent-adolescent relationship quality-are associated with delinquent behavior in the same way in a juvenile general population sample (n = 88) as in a juvenile offender sample (n = 85). Information on delinquency and the quality of parent-adolescent relationship was obtained from adolescents and parents. The results of path analyses showed that relations between poor parent-adolescent relationship quality, involvement with deviant peers, and delinquency depended on whose point of view is used (adolescent or parent) and which sample is used (general population or delinquent sample). These findings indicate that caution is warranted when theories based on research with community samples are used for development of intervention programs for juvenile delinquents.

Eficacia académica percibida, crianza, uso de internet y comportamiento en la adolescencia / Achievement perceived, parenting, internet use and adolescent behavior

Resumen El uso intensivo de internet puede contribuir a desarrollar disfunciones psicosociales graves en la adolescencia. El objetivo de esta investigación es analizar las relaciones de la percepción de eficacia académica con el uso de internet para ocio, los estilos de crianza y los problemas exteriorizados e interiorizados en la adolescencia (agresividad proactiva, reactiva, física y verbal, afiliación a pares rebeldes e inestabilidad emocional). Han participado 762 adolescentes de 12 a 17 años (M = 13.69; DT = 1.40; varones 52.8%). Utilizan internet en tiempo de ocio entre cero y 98 horas semanales, de ahí que la población se haya distribuido en cuartiles. Las variables se han obtenido a través de pruebas estandarizadas. Los análisis estadísticos se basan en metodología descriptiva y predictiva. Los resultados han permitido obtener tres conclusiones. Primera, el número de horas de internet para fines recreativos se relaciona con una peor eficacia académica percibida. Segunda, los adolescentes que usan Internet intensamente perciben más permisividad de los padres y menos apoyo y comunicación por parte de los padres. Estos adolescentes presentan más riesgo de conectarse con pares rebeldes y tienen índices más altos de inestabilidad emocional y agresividad (reactiva, proactiva, física y verbal). Tercera, la paternidad más punitiva, la agresividad y la afiliación a pares rebeldes aumentan el uso intensivo de Internet. Esta investigación corrobora la necesidad de una formación adecuada, dirigida a fomentar el apoyo y la comunicación paterno-filial para educar el uso racional y responsable de internet de ambos, padres y adolescentes.

Abstract The intensive use of the Internet can contribute to the development of serious psychosocial dysfunctions in adolescents. The purpose of this research is to analyze the relationships between achievement perceived with the leisure use of the internet, parenting, and externalized and internalized problems during adolescence (aggressiveness reactive, proactive, physical and verbal, affiliation with deviant peers and emotional instability). The sample is made of 762 adolescents from 12 to 17 years old (M = 13.69, SD = 1.40), with 52.8% of males and 47.2% of females. The use of internet in leisure time is between 0-98 hours per week. Hence the population has been distributed in quartiles. The variables have been obtained through standardized tests. Statistical analyzes are descriptive and predictive methodology. The analyses carried out have allowed us to obtain three conclusions. First, the number of hours of internet for recreational purposes is related to worse achievement perceived of the adolescent. Second, it has been found that adolescents who use Internet intensively greater perceived permissiveness of the parents and a lower support and communication with them. These adolescents present an increased risk of joining deviant peers and have higher rates of emotional instability and aggressiveness (reactive, proactive, and physical and verbal). Third, more punitive parenting, aggressiveness and affiliation with deviant peers boost the intensive use of the internet. This empirical research corroborates the need for adequate training aimed at fostering parental-child support and communication to educate the rational and responsible use of the Internet by both parents and adolescents.