Skip to main content

Advertisement

Log in

Do Specific Transitional Patterns of Antisocial Behavior during Adolescence Increase Risk for Problems in Young Adulthood?

  • Published:
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Latent transition analysis was used to identify patterns and trajectories of antisocial behavior (ASB) and their association with young adult outcomes in a nationally representative sample of adolescents (N = 5,422; 53.9 % female). Participants were on average 13.96 years of age (SD = 1.06) at wave 1 of the study. Latent class analysis identified four classes of ASB including a non-ASB class, an aggressive class, a petty theft class, and a serious ASB class. In general, youth who were classified as serious stable ASB were the most at risk for problematic functioning in young adulthood. Youth who escalated to more serious patterns of ASB or reduced involvement also were at greater risk of negative outcomes in young adulthood compared to stable non-ASB youth, although they generally fared better than youth involved in stable patterns of more serious ASB. Gender differences indicated that involvement in ASB was a greater risk factor for alcohol use among boys and a greater risk factor for depression among girls in young adulthood. Results are discussed in terms of the predictive validity of classes of ASB to functioning in young adulthood and the implications of this research for prevention efforts.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Achenbach, T. M. (1991). Manual for the Youth Self-Report form and 1991 profile. Burlington, VT: University of Vermont, Department of Psychiatry.

    Google Scholar 

  • Acock, A. C. (2005). Working with missing values. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 10121028.

    Google Scholar 

  • Angold, A., & Costello, E. J. (2001). The epidemiology of disorders of conduct: Nosological issues and comorbidity. In J. Hill & B. Maughan (Eds.), Conduct disorders in childhood & adolescence (pp. 126–162). Boston, MA: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bearman, P., Jones, J., & Udry, J. R. (1997). The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health: Research Design. Chapel Hill, NC: Carolina Population Center.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bongers, I. L., Koot, H. M., Van der Ende, J., & Verhulst, F. C. (2008). Predicting young adult social functioning from developmental trajectories of externalizing behavior. Psychological Medicine, 38, 988–999.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bor, W., McGee, T. R., Hayatbakhsh, R., Dean, A., & Najman, J. M. (2010). Do antisocial females exhibit poor outcomes in adulthood? An Australian cohort study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 44, 648–657.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bradshaw, C. P., Schaeffer, C. M., Petras, H., & Ialongo, N. (2010). Predicting negative life outcomes from early aggressive disruptive behavior trajectories: Gender differences in maladaption across life domains. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 39, 398–406.

  • Bray, B. C., Lanza, S. T., & Collins, L. M. (2010). Modeling relations among discrete developmental processes: A general approach to associative latent transition analysis. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 17, 541–569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Broidy, L. M., Tremblay, R. E., Brame, B., Fergusson, D., Horwood, J. L., Laird, R., et al. (2003). Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency: A six-site cross-national study. Developmental Psychology, 39, 222–245.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cheung, Y. B., Liu, K. Y., & Yip, P. S. (2007). Performance of the CES‐D and its Short Forms in Screening Suicidality and Hopelessness in the Community. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior, 37(1), 79–88.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chun, H., & Mobley, M. (2010). Gender and grade-level comparisons in the structure of problem behaviors among adolescence. Journal of Adolescence, 33, 197–207.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cicchetti, D., & Rogosch, F. A. (1996). Equifinality and multifinality in developmental psychopathology. Development and Psychopathology, 8, 597–600.

  • Connell, C. M., Cook, E. C., Aklin, W. M., Vanderploeg, J., & Brex, B. (2011). Patterns of antisocial behavior among non-metropolitan adolescents. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 98–106.

  • Elliott, D. E., Huizinga, D., & Ageton, S. S. (1985). Explaining delinquency and drug use. Beverly Hills: CS: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Farrell, A. D., Sullivan, T. N., Esposito, L. E., Meyer, A. L., & Valois, R. F. (2005). A latent growth curve analysis of the structure of aggression, drug use, and delinquent behaviors and their interrelations over time in urban and rural adolescents. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15, 179–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fergusson, D. M., Horwood, L. J., & Ridder, E. M. (2005). Show me the child at seven: The consequences of conduct problems in childhood for psychosocial functioning in adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 46, 837–849.1.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • French, D. C., & Conrad, J. (2001). School dropout as predicted by peer rejection and antisocial behavior. Journal of Research on adolescence, 11(3), 225–244.

  • French, D. C., & Conrad, J. (2005). School dropout as predicted by rejection and antisocial behavior. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 11, 225–244.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Frick, P. J., & Viding, E. (2009). Antisocial behavior from a developmental psychopathology perspective. Development and Psychopathology, 21, 1111–1131.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Frick, P. J., Lahey, B. B., Loeber, R., Tannenbaum, L., Vanhorn, Y., Christ, M., et al. (1993). Oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder: A meta-analytic review of factor analyses and cross-validation in a clinical sample. Clinical Psychology Review, 13, 319–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gerard, J. M., & Buehler, C. (2004). Cumulative environmental risk and youth maladjustment: The role of youth attributes. Child Development, 75, 1832–1849.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hagan, J., & Foster, H. (2003). S/He’s a Rebel: Toward a sequential stress theory of delinquency and gendered pathways to disadvantage in emerging adulthood. Social Forces, 82, 53–86.

  • Jessor, R., Donovan, J. E., & Costa, F. M. (1992). Health behavior questionnaire. http://www.colorado.edu/ibs/jessor/questionnaires/questionnaire_hbq92.pdf.

  • Keenan, K., Loeber, R., & Green, S. (1999). Conduct disorder in girls: A review of the literature. Clinical Child and Family Psychology, 2, 3–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kratzer, L., & Hodgins, S. (1999). A typology of offenders: A test of Moffitt’s theory among males and females from childhood to 30. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 9, 57–73.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lahey, B. B., Van Hulle, C. A., Waldman, I. D., Rodgers, J. L., D’Onofrio, B. M., Pedlow, S., et al. (2006). Testing descriptive hypotheses regarding sex differences in the development of conduct problems and delinquency. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 34, 737–755.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lanza, S. T., Flaherty, B. P., & Collins, L. M. (2003). Latent class and latent transition analysis. In J. A. Schinka & W. F. Velicer (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Vol. 2, research methods in psychology (pp. 663–685). Hoboken, NJ, US: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

  • Loeber, R., & Coie, J. (2001). Continuities and discontinuities of development, with particular emphasis on emotional and cognitive components of disruptive behavior. In J. Hill & B. Maughan (Eds.), Conduct disorders in Childhood & Adolescence (pp. 379–407). Boston, MA: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lubke, G. H., & Muthén, B. (2005). Investigating population heterogeneity with factor mixture models. Psychological Methods, 10, 21–39.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Massoglia, M. (2006). Desistance or displacement? The changing patterns of offending from adolescence to young adulthood. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 22, 215–239.

  • McGloin, J. M., Sullivan, C. J., & Piquero, A. R. (2009). Aggregating to versatility? Transitions among offender types in the short term. British Journal of Criminology, 49, 243–264.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, S., Malone, P. S., & Dodge, K. A. (2010). Developmental trajectories of boys’ and girls’ delinquency: Sex differences and links to later adolescent outcomes. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 1021–1032.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence- limited and life-course persistent antisocial behavior: A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 4, 674–701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E. (2006). Life course persistent versus adolescence-limited antisocial behavior. D. Cicchetti, & D. Cohen (Eds.), Developmental psychopathology: Volume (pp. 570–578). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E., & Caspi, A. (2001). Childhood predictors differentiate life-course persistent and adolescence-limited antisocial pathways among males and females. Development and Psychopathology, 13, 355–375.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Rutter, M., & Silva, P. (2001). Sex differences in antisocial behavior: Conduct disorder, delinquency, and violence in the Dunedin longitudinal study. Cambridge: Cambridge University.

  • Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2010). Mplus user's guide (6th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagin, D. S., & Tremblay, R. E. (2001). Analyzing developmental trajectories of distinct but related behaviors: A group-based method. Psychological Methods, 6, 18–34.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Nock, M. K., Kazdin, A. E., Hiripi, E., & Kessler, R. C. (2006). Prevalence, subtypes, and correlates of DSM-IV conduct disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication. Psychological Medicine, 36, 699–710.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Odgers, C. L., Moffitt, T. E., Broadbent, J. M., Dickson, N., Hancox, R. J., Harrington, H., et al. (2008). Female and male antisocial trajectories: From childhood origins to adult outcomes. Development and Psychopathology, 20, 673–716.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Piquero, A. R., Daigle, L. E., Gibson, C., Piquero, N. L., & Tibbetts, S. G. (2007). Are life-course persistent offenders at risk for adverse health outcomes? Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 44, 185–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Powell, D., Perreira, K. M., & Harris, K. M. (2010). Trajectories of delinquency from adolescence to adulthood. Youth and Society, 41, 475–502.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Radloff, L. S. (1977). The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rhebergen, D., Lamers, F., Spijker, J., De Graaf, R., Beekman, A. T. F., & Penninx, B. W. J. H. (2012). Course trajectories of unipolar depressive disorders identified by latent class growth analysis. Psychological Medicine, 42, 1383–1396.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roisman, G. I., Aguilar, B., & Egeland, B. (2004). Antisocial behavior in the transition to adulthood: The independent and interactive roles of developmental history and emerging developmental tasks. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 857–871.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Roisman, G. I., Monahan, K. C., Campbell, S. B., Steinberg, L., Cauffman, E., & The NICHD Research Network. (2010). Is adolescence-onset antisocial behavior developmentally normative? Development and Psychopathology, 22(2), 295–311.

  • Rutter, M., Giller, H., & Hagell, A. (1998). Antisocial behavior by young people: A major new review. Cambridge University Press

  • Rutter, M., Kim-Cohen, J., & Maughan, B. (2006). Continuities and discontinuities in psychopathology between childhood and adult life. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 47, 276–295.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Silverthorn, P., & Frick, P. J. (1999). Developmental pathways to antisocial behavior: The delayed-onset pathway in girls. Development and Psychopathology, 11, 101–126.

  • Soothill, K., Francis, B., Ackerley, E., & Humphrey, L. (2008). Changing patterns of offending behaviour among young adults. British Journal of Criminology, 48, 75–95.

  • Steffensmeier, D. J., Allan, A. E., Harer, M. D., & Streifel, C. (1989). Age and the distribution of crime. The American Journal of Sociology, 94, 803–831.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Steuwe, C., Lanius, R. A., & Frewen, P. A. (2012). Evidence for a dissociative subtype of PTSD by latent profile and confirmatory factor analyses in a civilian sample. Depression and Anxiety, 29, 689–700.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Stouthamer-Loeber, M., Wei, E., Loeber, R., & Masten, A. S. (2004). Desistance from persistent serious delinquency in the transition to adulthood. Development and Psychopathology, 16, 897–918.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson, M. P., Sims, L., Kingree, J. B., & Windle, M. (2008). Longitudinal associations between problem alcohol use and violent victimization in the national sample of adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 42, 21–27.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Thornberry, T. P. (2005). Explaining multiple patterns of offending across the life course and across generations. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 602, 156–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiesner, M., & Windle, M. (2004). Assessing covariates of adolescent delinquency trajectories: A latent growth mixture modeling approach. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 5, 431442.

    Google Scholar 

  • Windle, M. (1990). A longitudinal study of antisocial behaviors in early adolescence as predictors of late adolescent substance use: Gender and ethnic group differences. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 99, 86–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research uses data from Add Health, a program project directed by Kathleen Mullan Harris and designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and funded by grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, with cooperative funding from 23 other federal agencies and foundations. Special acknowledgment is due Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Information on how to obtain the Add Health data files is available on the Add Health website (http://www.cpc.unc.edu/addhealth). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis. Support for Dr. Cook and Dr. Pflieger’s time on this manuscript was provided by a NIDA funded Postdoctoral Research Training Program in Substance Abuse Prevention (T32DA019426).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emily C. Cook.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cook, E.C., Pflieger, J.C., Connell, A.M. et al. Do Specific Transitional Patterns of Antisocial Behavior during Adolescence Increase Risk for Problems in Young Adulthood?. J Abnorm Child Psychol 43, 95–106 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9880-y

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9880-y

Keywords

Navigation