How Do Families Matter? Age and Gender Differences in Family Influences on Delinquency and Drug Use

Abstract

Parenting practices, age, and gender all influence adolescent delinquency and drug use, but few studies have examined how these factors interact to affect offending. Using data from 18,512 students in Grades 6, 8, 10 and 12, this study found that across grades, parents treated girls and boys differently, but neither sex received preferential treatment for all practices assessed, and younger children reported more positive parenting than older students. Family factors were significantly related to delinquency and drug use for both sexes and for all grades. However, particular parenting practices showed gender and age differences in the degree to which they were related to outcomes, which indicates complexities in parent/child interactions that must be taken into account when investigating the causes of adolescent offending and when planning strategies to prevent the development of problem behaviors.

Youthful Arrest and Parental Support: Gendered Effects in Straining the Parent–Child Relationship

“…The relationship between parenting and delinquency was initially conceptualized by Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber (1986) as involving parental criminality, parental monitoring/discipline, youth attachment to parents, and parental support. Certain parental behaviors were associated with greater youth involvement in delinquency and drug use (Ardelt and Day 2002;Barnes and Farrell 1992;Fagan et al 2011;Herrenkohl et al 2000;Scaramella et al 2002). There is also now a sizeable body of research on the interactional effect that delinquency has on parenting practices (Huh et al 2006;Jang and Smith 1997;Laird et al 2003;Reitz et al 2006;Scaramella et al 2002;Stice and Barrera 1995;Vuchinich, Bank, and Patterson 1992).…”

“…Social support includes showing praise and encouragement, along with spending quality time with children (Wright and Cullen 2001). Parents who sustain positive and supportive relationships with their children not only help them learn coping skills, but may steer them away from delinquent activities because youth may not want to jeopardize their positive relationships (Fagan et al 2011). Parental support is a significant predictor of minor delinquency and youth alcohol use, even after accounting for demographic variables, family structure, and parental alcohol abuse (Barnes and Farrell 1992).…”

“…Social bonding theory contends that attachment can have a psychological effect when parents are not physically present (Hirschi 1969). Empirically, when parental attachment is weak, youths were more likely to be involved in delinquency (Fagan et al 2011), and this was particularly true for boys (Anderson, Holmes, and Ostresh 1999).…”

Gender Differences in the Effect of Family Structure on Educational Outcomes Among Nigerian Youth

“…It has been suggested that males and females have different emotional and behavioral tendencies which evolve depending on age and context (Bank, Delamont, & Marshall, 2007). Research in family structure has consistently ignored the significance of gender differentials, but recent research has justified the need to explore family structure and gender jointly so as to understand how family environment shapes adolescent development for males and females (Fagan, Van Horn, Antaramian, & Hawkins, 2011). Gender plays an important role in educational outcomes of young people, and recent studies are documenting a female advantage; however, the process by which gender roles influence the educational outcomes of youth has rarely been studied, especially in Nigeria where preference is still given to males compared with females when it comes to educational opportunities (Kazeem et al, 2010).…”

Comprehensive assessment of youth violence in five Caribbean countries: Gender and age differences

“…School characteristics that encourage students' involvement and positive interactions have been consistently noted as significant protective factors (Arthur et al, 2002;O'Brien et al, 2013;Wasserman et al, 2003). Previous studies also show the complex and dynamic patterns of youth violence by students' demographics: In general, male and older youth often appear to be at-risk populations who have higher levels of risk factors and lower levels of protective factors leading to increased involvement in violence (Fagan et al, 2011;Fagan et al, 2007;Herrenkohl et al, 2000).…”