Abstract
Effects of ethnicity and neighborhood quality often are confounded in research on adolescent delinquent behavior. This study
examined the pathways to delinquency among 2,277 African American and 5,973 European American youth residing in high-risk
and low-risk neighborhoods. Using data from a national study of youth, a meditational model was tested in which parenting
practices (parental control and maternal support) were hypothesized to influence adolescents’ participation in delinquent
behavior through their affiliation with deviant peers. The relationships of family and neighborhood risk to parenting practices
and deviant peer affiliation were also examined. Results of multi-group structural equation models provided support for the
core meditational model in both ethnic groups, as well as evidence of a direct effect of maternal support on delinquency.
When a similar model was tested within each ethnic group to compare youths residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods,
few neighborhood differences were found. The results indicate that, for both African American and European American youth,
low parental control influences delinquency indirectly through its effect on deviant peer affiliation, whereas maternal support
has both direct and indirect effects. However, the contextual factors influencing parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation
appear to vary somewhat across ethnic groups. Overall the present study highlights the need to look at the joint influence
of neighborhood context and ethnicity on adolescent problem behavior.
examined the pathways to delinquency among 2,277 African American and 5,973 European American youth residing in high-risk
and low-risk neighborhoods. Using data from a national study of youth, a meditational model was tested in which parenting
practices (parental control and maternal support) were hypothesized to influence adolescents’ participation in delinquent
behavior through their affiliation with deviant peers. The relationships of family and neighborhood risk to parenting practices
and deviant peer affiliation were also examined. Results of multi-group structural equation models provided support for the
core meditational model in both ethnic groups, as well as evidence of a direct effect of maternal support on delinquency.
When a similar model was tested within each ethnic group to compare youths residing in high-risk and low-risk neighborhoods,
few neighborhood differences were found. The results indicate that, for both African American and European American youth,
low parental control influences delinquency indirectly through its effect on deviant peer affiliation, whereas maternal support
has both direct and indirect effects. However, the contextual factors influencing parenting practices and deviant peer affiliation
appear to vary somewhat across ethnic groups. Overall the present study highlights the need to look at the joint influence
of neighborhood context and ethnicity on adolescent problem behavior.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Empirical Research
- Pages 1-17
- DOI 10.1007/s10964-012-9754-y
- Authors
- Arielle R. Deutsch, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
- Lisa J. Crockett, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
- Jennifer M. Wolff, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE, USA
- Stephen T. Russell, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Journal Journal of Youth and Adolescence
- Online ISSN 1573-6601
- Print ISSN 0047-2891