The Role of Parenting in the Development of Youth Antisocial Behavior

Background/Purpose Antisocial Behavior (AB) in adolescence is predictive of numerous problems in adulthood, including crime, mental health concerns, substance dependence, and work problems. Parental influence has been identified in the developmental literature as one of the most prominent factors influencing adolescent deviance. This study examines two parenting dimensions—parent-adolescent affective relationships (i.e., parental warmth and hostility) and monitoring—which affect development of juvenile delinquency from two major theoretical perspectives: social learning and attachment theories. These two primary dimensions of parenting have been referred to as support and control, and it has been suggested that these two dimensions are closely linked to each other. Social learning theory suggests that delinquent behavior is thought of as the outcome of insufficient parental monitoring as well as negative attempt to use hostility to control behavior of adolescents who are aggressive but give into defiant behaviors, thus further reinforcing adolescents’ aggressive and delinquent behavior (Patterson, 1982). Attachment theory suggests that warm and sensitive caregiving results in a sense of attachment security. Insecure attachment to parents is considered to be one of the causes of adolescent AB (Bowlby, 1944, 1973; Hirschi, 1969). Parental monitoring and the affective quality of the parental-adolescent relationship are significant facets of attachment since positive interactions are characteristic of secure attachment.

Methods This study used the Pathways to Desistance study (2000-2010) of serious adolescent offenders. Measures were obtained from three waves of data collected from 1053 youth (87% were males; 20% were Caucasian and 43% were African American; an average age of 16 years) and were examined by employing a series of linear growth curve models using Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). For the measure of maternal warmth and hostility, The Quality of Parental Relationships Inventory (Conger, Ge, Elder, Lorenz, & Simons, 1994; 21 items) was used. Parental monitoring was measured by The Parental Monitoring Inventory (Steinberg, Dornbusch, & Darling, 1992), which contains five items to assess parental knowledge. AB was assessed by the Self-Reported Offending (SRO) inventory using 11 items measuring frequency of aggressive offending.

Results Parental warmth and hostility were not significantly related to changes in AB. However, increased parental monitoring significantly predicted decreased AB among juvenile offenders over one year (p <.05).

Conclusions and Implications Results from this investigation hold strong implications for treating antisocial youth and their families. These findings are consistent with other studies that suggest parental support and monitoring are predictors for juvenile delinquency, but also that monitoring in particular has implications for aggressive AB outcomes. This knowledge can be used to inform family-based interventions aimed at reducing and preventing the perpetration of aggressive AB. Promising approaches to youth violence intervention programs would be family-centered, designed to improve quality of parenting.