NCJ Number
153398
Journal
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Volume: 61 Issue: 6 Dated: (1993) Pages: 941-951
Date Published
1993
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study applies a hierarchical linear model to study adolescent deviance in a cohort of 11-year-olds and a cohort of 14- year-olds.
Abstract
The outcome variable in each analysis was a nine-item scale assessing attitudes favorable to deviant behavior. The deviant behaviors included in the scale were cheating in school, stealing items of various monetary value, deliberately damaging property, using marijuana or hashish, selling hard drugs, threatening or hitting someone for no reason, using alcohol, or breaking into a vehicle or building to steal something. The analysis estimated the mean trajectory for the cohorts, examined the extent of variation of the individual trajectories about the mean trajectory, assessed the fit of linear and curvilinear growth models, assessed the psychometric properties of individual indicators of status and change, and used these indicators as outcomes to be predicted by between-subjects covariates. The results suggested that attitudes favoring deviance increase during adolescence, peaking around the age of 17. The typical trajectories for boys and girls had similar shapes, although female adolescents tended to be less deviant than males at every age. 6 tables, 2 figures, 26 references, and 1 appendix