NCJ Number
219204
Journal
Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 36 Issue: 5 Dated: July 2007 Pages: 607-622
Date Published
July 2007
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study examined the impact of youthful lying on the parent-child bond and on delinquent behavior.
Abstract
Results indicated that lying to parents had a strong and robust correlation to delinquent behavior. Lying was associated with a host of negative behaviors and the goal of the lying was to prevent parents from discovering their negative behaviors. Lying, especially prolonged lying also appeared to have negative effects on the parent-child bond with many parents expressing distrust and anger toward their deceitful child. The findings generally provide support for explanations and theories of juvenile delinquency that locate the source of the problem in the child rather than in the parents. The results demonstrate how parents’ ability to monitor their children’s activities is at least partly dependent on their children’s willingness to keep their parents accurately informed. Future studies should seek to gain more complete information about subjects’ lying and about parents’ reactions to lying using methods such as daily diaries or random contacts. Data were drawn from the first two waves of the public use samples of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), a nationally representative survey of youths in grades 7 through 12 (N=6,504). The survey gathered information from youths, their friends, parents, siblings, romantic partners, fellow students, and school administrators. Youths were interviewed twice in their homes at 1-year intervals between April 1995 and August 1996. A parent was interviewed once during the first wave of data collection. Regression models were used to analyze the data. Figure, tables, footnotes, references