NCJ Number
208328
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 33 Issue: 6 Dated: December 2004 Pages: 509-522
Date Published
December 2004
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study tested a model in which family conflict is hypothesized to be positively associated with psychological distress in the form of anger and depressed mood, and in which anger and depressed mood are hypothesized to be positively associated with delinquent behavior.
Abstract
Anonymous questionnaires were administered to all Icelandic secondary school students present in class on March 17, 1997. Valid questionnaires were obtained from 7,758 students, approximately 89 percent of all students in these age groups. The control variables measured were family structure, parents' education, and parental support. The family conflict variables measured were severe arguments and physical violence; the mediating variables measured were depressed mood and anger. The dependent variable was delinquency. The data analysis was based on structural equation modeling. The study found that being exposed to family conflict directly affected both feelings of anger and depressed mood among adolescents. Further, in accord with general strain theory, the study found that family conflict increased the likelihood of delinquent acts by adolescents. After controlling for anger, however, depressed mood did not affect delinquent behavior. Anger thus becomes the critical mediating variable in the link between family conflict and delinquency. Still, anger and depressed mood are likely to co-occur. Family conflict had stronger effects on delinquency among boys than among girls. This finding departs from prior research within general strain theory, which has found that stressful life events have a similar effect on delinquency and its escalation among both males and females. 6 tables and 79 references