Effects of Physical and Emotional Maternal Hostility on Adolescents' Depression and Reoffending

• NCJ Number: 252909
• Journal: Journal of Research on Adolescence Volume: 28 Issue: 2 Dated: 2018 Pages: 427-437
• Author(s): April G. Thomas; Nina Ozbardakci; Adam Fine; Laurence Steinberg; Paul J. Frick; Elizabeth Cauffman
• Date Published: 2018
• Length: 11 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined whether (1) mothers varied in the way they expressed hostility toward their delinquent adolescent offspring, (2) different types of maternal hostility differentially affected adolescents depression and recidivism, and (3) adolescent depression served as a mechanism through which maternal hostility predicted later reoffending.

Abstract

The sample consisted of 1,216 male first time offenders, aged 13¨C17 years old (M = 15.80, SD = 1.29). Confirmatory factor analysis supported the premise that maternal hostility could be distinguished into two subtypes: emotional and physical hostility. Adolescent offenders who experienced emotional or physical hostility by their mothers reported greater depressive symptoms and reoffending 6 months later. Further, the relation between maternal hostility (of each type) and adolescent reoffending was partially explained by depressive symptomology. (publisher abstract modified)