Early Adolescent Predictors of Violent Behavior: Child and Contextual Risk, and Moderation by Rejecting Parenting

Abstract

The current study explored early adolescent child-level predictors (physical aggression, impulsivity, empathy) and contextual-level predictors (peer deviance, neighborhood dangerousness) of violent and nonviolent antisocial behavior (AB) in late adolescence. Additionally, we tested the moderating role of rejecting parenting on these associations based on the importance of parent-child relationships in early adolescence and documented bidirectional associations between parenting and our predictor variables. Participants ( N = 272) came from the Pitt Mother and Child Project, a longitudinal study of high-risk boys. Higher levels of early adolescent physical aggression significantly predicted late adolescent engagement in both nonviolent and violent crimes. Peer deviance, impulsivity, and neighborhood dangerousness were also associated with later juvenile AB. Rejecting parenting moderated several of these associations. Results support the predictive validity of several early adolescent child- and contextual-level variables—particularly early adolescent aggression—for subsequent engagement in both violent and nonviolent AB.