Ecological Risk Factors Associated with Adolescent Delinquency in the United States: A Systematic Review of Recent Literature

Background and Purpose: Adolescent delinquency is a critical public health issue in the United States. Years of study suggest that the most effective prevention and treatment models for adolescent delinquency reflect an ecological perspective. A question remains about the extent to which current literature builds on past knowledge about the merit of an ecological perspective. In addition, the social ecology of adolescent lives has changed substantially with the expansion of social media and technology.  Therefore, this review aims to: (1) summarize current primary risk factors for adolescent delinquency at different levels of the social ecology, and (2) assess the extent to which recent studies reflect an ecological perspective.

Method: Electronic database were searched for eligible studies from January 2010 to April 2018 in peer-reviewed journals.  To be included, studies must have addressed delinquency, antisocial behavior, and/or violence among 12 to 17 year-old adolescents.  Studies must have applied rigorous quantitative longitudinal designs. Data sources included PsycINFO, Academic Search Premier, Social Science Citation Index, and JSTOR.

Results: Of 9,293 studies screened, 96 met inclusion criteria for review. At the individual-level, longitudinal studies identified a strong relationship between depressive symptoms and delinquent behaviors, especially among female adolescents. African American adolescents showed a higher likelihood of engaging in delinquent behaviors than did white adolescents. At the family level, weak parental monitoring was a major risk factor. Deviant peer affiliation was positively associated with delinquent behaviors with a reciprocal effect in multiple studies.  Exposure to community violence was a primary risk factor at the community level. As for social networks, lengthy exposure to media with antisocial content significantly increased rates of cyberbullying for both boys and girls. In addition, accessibility to handguns was a major risk factor associated delinquent and violent behaviors in the US. Of 96 studies reviewed, 93 assessed risk factors at more than one level of the social ecology, but only 3 studies assessed risk factors at three or more levels.

Conclusion and Implications: The present study reviewed recent literature assessing risk factors for adolescent delinquency. Intervention and prevention efforts from multiple disciplines have illustrated that adolescent delinquency is not generally caused by factors from only one source, but becomes more likely when adolescents experience collective risk factors at the individual, family, peer, school, and community levels. A solid, ongoing, and contemporary understanding of current risk factors in the social ecology can help social work researchers and practitioners elucidate and establish multiple pathways and interventions to reduce delinquent behaviors in adolescents. Adolescent delinquency prevention programs should be a priority among school psychologists, school administrators, and social workers. Relatively new risks posed by social media or mobile technologies should be considered in future prevention programs. Current research findings based in an ecological model can help existing prevention programs focus on more than individual and familial characteristics and address extensive interactions between adolescents and their rich and diverse ecological systems.