Patterned Adolescent Socially Deviant Behavior

Background: Research suggests that most adolescent youth (AY) will engage in socially deviant behavior (SDB) beginning at ages 10-14, peak in rate of participation at 16-17, and desist thereafter at ages 17 and older. AY participation in SDB varies by frequency and severity, where severity refers to the harm to self, others or a community. Most AY do not participate in SDB to harm, however, but instead are attempting to express autonomous function from parental and adult oversight. During adolescence, youth become aware of their physical transformation to adulthood and growing sense of self, yet they are simultaneously aware of the lack of autonomy afforded by parents and other social institutions within society. Because research suggests that most AY will participate in SDB, and that the frequency and severity of behavior will change during the adolescent period, describing how and when AY transition among SDB harm types is important to understanding and limiting harm to self, others and the community.

Methods: Latent transition analyses were used to conduct analyses of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1997. The analytic sample included 3578 participants who were aged 12 & 13 when data collection began, and twelve indicators of SDB measured at four timepoints (t [age 12 & 13; Wave 1], t+1 [age 13-14 & 14-15; Wave 2 & 3], t+2 [age 15-16 & 16-17; Wave 4 & 5], and t+3 [age 17-18 & 18-19; Wave 6 & 7]) were analyzed within the study.

Results: Four latent statuses of SDB that manifested across the adolescent development period were identified in this study: Minimal Deviant Behavior, Primarily Status Offense SDB, Moderate SDB, and Severe SBD, where the members of Moderate and Severe statuses are most likely to participate in behaviors that victimize others. Transitions to more harmful statuses were most likely to occur from Moderate SDB to Severe SDB statuses (t - t+1: p = .31; t+1 - t+2: p = .19; t+2 - t+3: p = .11), where the proportion of AY in Moderate SDB was highest at ages 12 & 13 (n = 1192) and lowest at age 17 -19 (n = 61).

Results indicated most AY were not involved in SDB during beginning adolescence (age 12 & 13), however most AY participated in some form of SDB by late adolescent (age 17 – 19). When considering harm to self, others and communities, AY were most likely to participate in SDB that victimized others at the highest rates and probability during early adolescence (13 – 15), and the least likely by late adolescence.

Implications: This study extends knowledge about the types of SDB that AY participate in and describes the likelihood of transitioning among the types across the adolescent development period. This study suggests that AY are participating in moderate and severe SDB prior to age 12 and 13, yet AY in Moderate SDB status are most likely to transition to other statuses during the entire adolescent period. Implications for intervention and policy are discussed.