Antisocial behavior in the transition to adulthood: The independent and interactive roles of developmental history and emerging developmental tasks

Abstract

Although the turning points theory posits that the successful engagement of the romantic and work domains in young adulthood represents an important opportunity for disrupting antisocial pathways, others have recently speculated that such turning points may be most applicable to the majority of antisocial youth who begin offending in adolescence~Adolescence-Onset @AO#!, rather than those who begin early in childhood and persist Early-Onset0Persistent @EOP#!. This study was designed~a! to attempt replication of recent evidence that AOs demonstrate problem behaviors intermediate to EOP and Never Antisocial youth in young adulthood, which was confirmed; and~b! to examine the correlates of lower levels of antisocial offending among AOs and EOPs in the transition to adulthood. As expected, AOs were more likely than EOPs to desist by age 23. Nonetheless, positive work and romantic involvement between the ages of 21 and 23 were significantly associated with less externalizing problems for EOPs, but not AOs. In addition, illicit substance use and deviant peer association proved to be associated with externalizing problems at age 23, irrespective of the patterning of young adults' antisocial behavior in childhood and adolescence. Results suggest that the unique opportunities available in the transition to adulthood may hold particular promise for youth with persistently troubled early histories.

Conduct problems trajectories and psychosocial outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…This highlights the urgency for intervention in conduct problems children and adolescents. Combined with data coming from research on predisposing factors of developmental course of conduct problems [45,46] which suggest that risk factors may be found at multiple levels, we speculate that multi-systemic (i.e., school and family) interventions may be most effective [47].…”

Predicting adult emotional and behavioral problems from externalizing problem trajectories in a 24-year longitudinal study

“…In addition to the level and the growth or decline of behaviors, individuals can start to display problem behavior at different ages [31]. As a result, some studies report a 'child onset' type, an 'adolescent onset' type [4,19,26], or a 'life-course persistent' and 'adolescence-limited' developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior. In the 'adolescent-limited' subgroup, externalizing behavior emerges in adolescence and desists after adolescence [9].…”

“…For instance, children in stable high-level trajectories are more likely to show poor outcomes (e.g. delinquency, aggression or substance use) [9,10,30] than children on low-level or increasing trajectories [8,9,26]. Furthermore, individuals in externalizing behavior trajectories of the 'life-course-persistent' and 'child onset' subtype experience in general more adult problems (e.g.…”

“…Furthermore, individuals in externalizing behavior trajectories of the 'life-course-persistent' and 'child onset' subtype experience in general more adult problems (e.g. delinquency and economic problems) than individuals in 'adolescent onset' and 'adolescent limited' trajectories [25,26]. However, some studies fail to identify 'adolescent-limited' trajectories of externalizing behavior, or, report poor outcomes in adulthood for individuals who started to display problem behavior in adolescence [9,25].…”

Le raccrochage scolaire au Québec : le discours de jeunes adultes québécois inscrits en Centres d'Éducation aux Adultes

“…Même s'il apparaît clairement dans les recherches que la continuité prévaut dans le fonctionnement et l'ajustement de l'individu avant, pendant et après la transition adulte (Moffitt & Caspi, 2001), certaines études montrent également la discontinuité des parcours, surtout chez les jeunes ayant présenté des difficultés pendant l'adolescence (Aseltine & Gore, 1993 ;Roisman, Aguilar, & Egeland, 2004 ;Schulenberg, Bryant, & O'Malley, 2004). L'émergence de la vie adulte signifie l'arrivée de nouveaux rôles et de nouvelles opportunités pour les jeunes de s'épanouir à l'extérieur des contextes de l'enfance et de l'adolescence qui ont souvent été synonymes d'échecs (e.g., le milieu scolaire secondaire) (Roisman et al, 2004 ;Schulenberg et al, 2004). En outre, selon la théorie des points tournants (Turning points theory) de Laub, Nagen et Sampson (1998), dans certains cas, des événements de vie heureux tels que le mariage ou l'obtention d'un emploi sérieux et gratifiant peuvent entraîner un changement d'orientation vers la conformité dans une trajectoire marquée par la déviance (Sampson & Laub, 1993).…”