Gender Differences in Risk and Promotive Classifications Associated With Adolescent Delinquency

Date

2010

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

The Journal of genetic psychology

Abstract

How likely are children exposed to multiple risk factors to engage in delinquent behavior, to what extent do promotive factors mitigate exposure to these risk factors, and do the predictors of delinquent behavior differ by gender? To address these questions, data from youths (229 males, 187 females) who completed the third wave of the Lehigh Longitudinal Study were analyzed using Latent Profile Analysis. A unique risk/promotive class with slightly elevated rates of exposure to parental violence, mean levels of other risk factors and low levels of promotive factors was present for females but not for males. Additionally, for both males and females, high risk/low promotive individuals were significantly more likely to engage in delinquent behavior than low risk, high promotive cases. Findings suggest the need to examine risk and promotive factors in combination to account for their shared influences on developmental outcomes for youth. (Author Abstract)

Description

Keywords

child abuse, risk factors, protective factors, delinquency, gender differences, research

Citation

Whitney, S. D., Renner, L. M., & Herrenkohl, T. I. (2010). Gender differences in risk and promotive classifications associated with adolescent delinquency. The Journal of genetic psychology, 171(2), 116-138.

DOI