U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Self-Control Assessments and Implications for Predicting Adolescent Offending

NCJ Number
250051
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 45 Issue: 4 Dated: April 2016 Pages: 701-712
Author(s)
A. Fine; L. Steinberg
Date Published
April 2016
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study (a) examined relationships between self-reported self-control on the Weinberger Adjustment Inventory with Go/No-Go response inhibition, and (b) compared the predictive utility of both assessment strategies for short- and long-term adolescent reoffending.
Abstract
Although low self-control is consistently related to adolescent offending, it is unknown whether self-report measures or laboratory behavior tasks yield better predictive utility, or if a combination yields incremental predictive power. This is particularly important because developmental theory indicates that self-control is related to adolescent offending and, consequently, risk assessments rely on self-control measures. The current study used longitudinal data from the Crossroads Study of male, first-time adolescent offenders ages 13-17 (N = 930; 46 percent Hispanic/Latino, 37 percent Black/African-American, 15 percent non-Hispanic White, 2 percent other race). The study results indicate that the measures are largely unrelated, and that the self-report measure is a better indicator of both short- and long-term reoffending. The laboratory task measure does not add value to what is already predicted by the self-report measure. Implications for assessing self-control during adolescence and consequences of assessment strategy are discussed. (Publisher abstract modified)