Friday, 14 January 2005 - 8:00 AM

This presentation is part of: Delinquency

Examination of Different Pathways to Antisocial Behaviors in Adolescents in Poor Neighborhoods

Purpose: Changes in antisocial behaviors across a certain lifespan (e.g., adolescence-limited vs. life-course-persistent) have been areas of interest in both the developmental literature as well as in work on preventative and intervention work. Yet, relatively little attention has been paid to individual differences in potential changes over time. This paper presents the theoretical assumptions underlying change in antisocial behaviors over time as well as a procedure to explain the heterogeneity of developmental processes of antisocial behaviors in a predominantly African American adolescent sample residing in inner-city, poor neighborhoods.

Methods: Data were collected from n = 354 youth over the course of four years (ages 12 to 15) in an ongoing longitudinal study designed to identify the life-course trajectories of behaviors and associated developmental outcomes in inner-city African American youth. An aggregate antisocial behavior score was measured by the following items: physical fighting, carrying/using a deadly weapon, attacking someone, and gang engagement. Growth mixture modeling (GMM) with Mplus 2.13 was used to identify distinct antisocial behavior trajectories.

Results: When heterogeneity in the sample was ignored, the frequency of antisocial behaviors remained unchanged over the four year period. When heterogeneity of the sample was allowed (i.e., when allowing potential subgroups to have different growth parameters), however, findings revealed the three distinct pathways of antisocial behavior trajectories over a four year period (loglikelihood = -2081.5; BIC = 4251.0; Entropy = .79) were supported by the data: 80% of the sample started and remained low in the frequency of antisocial behaviors; 10% started high but the frequency decreased over time; and 10% started low but the frequency increased until they reach age 15. Experiences in the school context related to antisocial behaviors, such as suspensions and expulsions, were highly associated with antisocial behaviors at age 12.

Implications for Practice: Findings from this study suggest that there are distinct developmental trajectories in adolescents that place youth at greater risk, though the sample appears to be a homogeneous group as a whole. Understanding developmental trajectories of antisocial behaviors is essential in order to inform preventative and intervention efforts. Equally important is, however, that change and variability within a population should also be considered in order to understand and generate potentially group-specific intervention strategies.

See more of Delinquency
See more of Oral and Poster

See more of Celebrating a Decade of SSWR (January 13 - 16, 2005)