EARLY LIFE RISKS, ANTISOCIAL TENDENCIES, AND PRETEEN DELINQUENCY

• Author: COREY WHICHARD,JEREMY STAFF,JENNIFER MAGGS,SONJA E. SIENNICK
• Date: 01 November 2015
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/1745-9125.12093
• Published date: 01 November 2015

EARLY LIFE RISKS, ANTISOCIAL TENDENCIES,

AND PRETEEN DELINQUENCY∗

JEREMY STAFF,1COREY WHICHARD,1SONJA E. SIENNICK,2

and JENNIFER MAGGS3

1Department of Sociology and Criminology, Pennsylvania State University

2College of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Florida State University

3Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State

University

KEYWORDS: preteen delinquency, childhood antisocial tendencies, early life risk fac-

tors, family disadvantages, Millennium Cohort Study

Early age-of-onset delinquency and substance use confer a major risk for continued

criminality, alcohol and drug abuse, and other serious difficulties throughout the life

course. Our objective is to examine the developmental roots of preteen delinquency

and substance use. By using nationally representative longitudinal data from the UK

Millennium Cohort Study (N =13,221), we examine the influence of early childhood

developmental and family risks on latent pathways of antisocial tendencies from 3 to

7 years of age, and the influence of those pathways on property crime and substance

use by 11 years of age. We identified a normative, nonantisocial pathway; a pathway

marked by oppositional behavior and fighting; a pathway marked by impulsivity and

inattention; and a rare pathway characterized by a wide range of antisocial tenden-

cies. Children with developmental and family risks that emerged by 3 years of age—

specifically difficult infant temperament, low cognitive ability, weak parental closeness,

and disadvantaged family background—face increased odds of antisocial tendencies.

Minimal overlap is found between the risk factors for early antisocial tendencies and

those for preteen delinquency. Children on an antisocial pathway are more likely to en-

gage in preteen delinquency and substance use by 11 years of age even after accounting

for early life risk factors.

Social scientists have long shown that some youth first engage in delinquency and

substance use before 13 years of age and that such early age-of-onset antisocial behav-

ior increases the risk of long-duration, high-frequency involvement in crime and sub-

stance abuse (Blumstein et al., 1986; Bosick, Bersani, and Farrington, 2015; Ellickson,

Tucker, and Klein, 2003; Thornberry and Krohn, 2003). Research has identified childhood

∗Measures of alcohol use and manuscript preparation were supported by a grant from the Na-

tional Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (AA019606). The UK Millennium Cohort Study

(MCS) was conducted by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies at the UCL Institute of Education,

London and deposited in the UK Data Archive. The MCS was primarily funded by the Economic

and Social Research Council (ESRC). The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the

authors and do not represent the views of the sponsors. The authors have no conflicts of interest

to declare. Direct correspondence to Jeremy Staff, Department of Sociology and Criminology,

Pennsylvania State University, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802 (e-mail:

jus25@psu.edu).

C2015 American Society of Criminology doi: 10.1111/1745-9125.12093

CRIMINOLOGY Volume 53 Number 4 677–701 2015 677

678 STAFF ET AL.

“antisocial tendencies” (hereafter called ASTs), such as physical aggression, disobedi-

ence, impulsivity, and inattention, that heighten the risk of preteen delinquency and sub-

stance use (Farrington, 2003; Tremblay, 2014). Prominent theories in criminology and

developmental psychopathology suggest that preteen delinquency and substance use orig-

inate in early childhood developmental and family-related disadvantages that increase the

risk of ASTs (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990; Moffitt, 1993). Our objective in this study is

to test whether childhood ASTs do in fact link early developmental and family disadvan-

tages with preteen delinquency and substance use.

We use nationally representative prospective data from the UK Millennium Cohort

Study (MCS). The MCS collected information on a recent birth cohort of 9-month-olds

and their parent(s) or caregiver(s) at multiple points throughout childhood. It includes

more than a decade’s worth of longitudinal data on a large (N=13,221), contemporary,

nationally representative sample of British children born at the start of the millennium.

By drawing from criminological theories of early-onset delinquency, we first examine

whether developmental and family factors assessed from 9 months to 3 years of age pre-

dict latent AST pathways from 3 to 7 years of age. Then, we place these AST pathways

as intermediate steps linking early developmental and family risks with delinquency and

substance use at 11 years of age.

CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES EMPHASIZING EARLY AGE

OF ONSET

Past theoretical work has highlighted two main potential sources of early-onset delin-

quency and substance use (Farrington, 2003; Tremblay, 2014). The first—most directly

stated by Moffitt (1993)—stems from neuropsychological deficits that emerge in utero or

shortly after birth and cause persistent adjustment problems. The second—most directly

stated by Gottfredson and Hirschi (1990)—comes from family-related risks that prevent

young children from acquiring the skills and resources needed to inhibit later antisocial

impulses. In accordance with such perspectives, evidence indicates that children at risk

for preteen delinquency exhibit early warning signs, such as physical aggression, opposi-

tional behavior, inattention, and impulsivity, which continue past the toddler years (Caspi

et al., 1995; Loeber and Farrington, 2000). Brought about by developmental and family

risks in childhood, these behavioral tendencies emerge as “prodromes” of early-onset

delinquency. In this section, we begin by reviewing the evidence for longitudinal linkages

between childhood ASTs and subsequent delinquency. We then review evidence on the

developmental precursors of early ASTs, and the extent to which they overlap with the

correlates of subsequent delinquency.

ANTISOCIAL TENDENCIES OF EARLY ONSET DELINQUENTS

It is well known that childhood physical aggression and oppositional defiance are

among the most consistent predictors of adolescent, as well as adult, offending and crimi-

nal justice system involvement (Gottfredson and Hirschi, 1990; Moffitt, 1993). White et al.

(1990) showed that children who are aggressive and disobedient at 3 years of age are at

increased risk of antisocial behavior at 11 years of age, as well as of delinquency and

police contact at 15 years of age. Maughan et al. (2000) observed that youth who were

physically aggressive (e.g., who fought and bullied) during early adolescence were more