Background: Three different explanations have been given for the observation that adolescent gang members report more delinquent behaviour than their counterparts who do not affiliate with gangs: a) adolescents who commit more crimes join gangs (selection hypothesis); b) gang membership facilitates deviant behaviour (facilitation hypothesis); c)…

Juvenile fire setting is a serious, dangerous, and costly behavior. The majority of research examining youth fire setting has been cross-sectional. We sought to examine early risk attributes that could differentiate fire setters from non-fire setters, in addition to examining their association with the developmental continuity of fire-setting…

Drug and alcohol abuse and teenage pregnancy are two behaviors manifested by at-risk children that are both a cause and a result of their lack of success in school and possible subsequent dropping out. The distinction between substance use and abuse may be determined using the following criteria: (1) age of onset; (2) physiological responses; (3)…

This study sought to determine predictors of serious antisocial behaviors through use of multiple gating screening procedures. Kindergarten boys in 54 Montreal (Quebec, Canada) schools were assessed; then boys with high aggressiveness-hyperactivity-distractibility scores were observed for task-inappropriate behaviors and rated on inattention and…

Examined relative roles of aggression and other dysregulated behaviors in predicting adolescent peer problems and antisocial behavior. Found that aggression and withdrawal were stable and linked to peer difficulties in elementary school and adolescence, but indicated significant risk for adolescent rejection, victimization, and antisocial activity…

Contrasted characteristics of antisocial adolescents who desist from crime in adulthood with characteristics of those who became adult criminals. Proposed that psychophysiological differences between the two groups could reveal procedures to protect vulnerable individuals against crime. Findings suggest that better conditioning and enhanced…

Data from the first five waves of the National Youth Survey were used to test the applicability of the Developmental Pathways model to a nationally representative sample of girls. Overall, girls were less likely to be involved in all types of delinquent behavior, with the majority of girls reporting no delinquent involvement across the five waves…

Background: The extensive research on prediction of risk in offenders has developed a number of reliable static risk predictors. There is also a developing body of work on proximal, dynamic risk factors and their importance in predicting violent and sexual offending. Although this work has not been done specifically on offenders with intellectual…

A 7-year, longitudinal study of children's social development from kindergarten through sixth grade was designed to identify unusually prosocial children and characteristics that differentiated them from average and antisocial peers. Another objective was to identify functional socioemotional predictors of changes in children's social adjustment.…

It was hypothesized that antisocial behavior and deviant peer involvement assessed prior to puberty, at grade four, would predict initiation of sexual intercourse by grade nine. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 201 boys who were at risk for delinquency. The subjects participated in an extensive multiple method/agent assessment for both…

Early personality and environmental characteristics that predict later problematic aggression and depression in children were investigated longitudinally. A developmental psychopathology approach was taken. (This approach assumes that patterns of adaptation and maladaptation in development can best be understood when explored simultaneously and…

The Home-School-Community Agent (HSCA) Project of the Columbus, Ohio Public Schools was successful in identifying disruptive pupils and helping them make some positive adjustment to those aspects of their lives that interfere with their success in school. Even though definitive gains in pupil attitudes fell slightly below the project goal, the…

In studies of school behavior adjustment involving 39 antisocial and 41 at-risk middle school boys, extremely problematic behavior profiles were found among the antisocial subjects. Profiles were quite consistent and stable across the middle school years. Predictor variables of school success or failure included math achievement, school discipline…

Studies the association between the severity of early female antisocial behavior (drug-related and non-drug-related offenses) and the later behavioral and emotional health of the children of these women, using a secondary analysis of National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data for 688 whites, 481 Hispanic Americans, and 256 African Americans. (RLC)

Examined association between risk factors and alcohol use among young rural adolescents (n=463). Found family relations, family structure, marks in school, participation in academic activities, frequency of church attendance, and deviant behavior significantly associated with alcohol use two years later. No gender or age differences were found in…