Individual, Social, and Neighborhood Influences on the Launch of Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

• Author: Christopher J. Sullivan
• DOI: 10.1177/1541204013483779
• Published date: 01 April 2014
• Date: 01 April 2014
• Subject Matter: Articles

Article

Individual, Social, and

Neighborhood Influences

on the Launch of Adolescent

Antisocial Behavior

Christopher J. Sullivan

1

Abstract

This study attempts to develop further insight into the initiation and continuance of antisocial

behavior during adolescence using a ‘‘launch’’ perspective in conjunction with several risk/protective

factor measures from prior research on substance use and delinquency. Data from the Project on

Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN) were analyzed using multilevel latent

growth curve models across three waves for three age cohorts (n¼2,130 youth; 78 neighbor-

hoods). After considering typical trends and their variation, the relationships between covariates

and different characteristics of the growth curves were analyzed. Implications of the findings for

understanding developmental trends and prevention strategy are considered.

Keywords

developmental trends, antisocial behavior, launch model, prevention

Adolescent riskbehavior can have serious consequences for youths andcan also impose costs to soci-

ety more generally (Albert & Steinberg, 2011; Cohen & Piquero, 2009; Farrington & Welsh, 2007).

Recent nationaltrends in adolescent substanceuse suggest declines (Johnston, O’Malley,Bachman, &

Schulenberg, 2 011), but nearly 40%of 12th-grade students surveyed for the Monitoring the Future

Study still reportusing some illicit drug. Similarly, national estimatesshow a reduction in delinquency

cases from 199 5 to 2007 (Knoll & Sick mund, 2010), but the prevalenc e of delinquency rem ains high

and data show a flat trend more recently. These figures illustrate the continued importance of under-

standing the etiology of adolescent antisocial behavior—in particular, its initiation and continuation.

Developmental and Public Health Perspectives on Antisocial Behaviors

Although antisocial behavior can be studied from a variety of perspectives, a developmental, life-

course framework have been utilized with increasing regularity in recent years (Farrington, 2005,

1

University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH, USA

Corresponding Author:

Christopher J. Sullivan, School of Criminal Justice, University of Cincinnati, 665 J Dyer Hall, Box 210389, Cincinnati, OH

45221, USA.

Email: christopher.sullivan@uc.edu

Youth Violence and JuvenileJustice

2014, Vol. 12(2) 103-120

ªThe Author(s) 2013

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DOI: 10.1177/1541204013483779

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2006; Hser, Longshore, & Anglin, 2007). This approach draws on the study of individuals over time

and sets the stage for the development of interventions informed by an understanding of the onset

and continuance of antisocial behavior (Loeber & Farrington, 2000). In concert with this approach,

some have begun to take a public health view of substance use and delinquency, with an emphasis on

interventions that aim to direct youth away from antisocial behavioral trajectories (Welsh, 2005).

This, however, requires a thorough understanding of the etiology of antisocial behavior at its initial

point and across its developmental course (Jenson & Fraser, 2010). Recent analysis emphasizes the

importance of pursuing prevention efforts at relatively early developmental stages to stem the mon-

etary and social costs associated with long-term patterns of antisocial behavior (Cohen & Piquero,

2009). At the same time, a growing body of literature has identified effective primary and secondary

prevention programs for individuals, families, and communities (Catalano, 2007).

The ‘‘Launch’’ of Adolescent Antisocial Behavior

This research has led to the compilation of comprehensive lists of individual and social risk factors

found to increase the likelihood of antisocial behavior (e.g., Hawkins et al., 1998). Multiple frame-

works can be used to understand the process by which this initial risk might affect long-term beha-

vioral trajectories. These perspectives sometimes differ in their views of the nature of early risk

factors and the extent and manner in which they affect later behavior. The ‘‘launch’’ model

proposes that risk factors, in addition to their contemporaneous impact, have effects on later trends

in antisocial behavior as well (Hussong, Curran, Moffitt, & Caspi, 2008; Kinderman & Skinner,

1992). So, a given influence (e.g., family disadvantage) is expected to impact a youth’s immediate

behavior and also have an effect on their later developmental trend.

Hussong and colleagues (2008) used this perspective to study substance use and continuity in

criminal activity in late adolescence/early adulthood. They found that substance use had a positive

association with the initial level of offending and a negative effect on its slope, suggesting steeper

declines in offending among those who had higher initial levels of alcohol and marijuana abuse

symptoms. Those individuals still had comparatively high offending levels, however. An assessment

of this explanatory model at earlier developmental periods is essential as it might offer insight into

whether there are behaviors that are affected by risk factors both concurrently and prospectively,

which is the notion underlying the launch model (Kinderman & Skinner, 1992), or, alternatively,

whether later behavioral trends are relatively impervious to early influences.

Individual and Social Influences on the Development of Antisocial Behavior

Using this perspective as a jumping off point, an important next layer of investigation is to identify

the factors that play a part in the developmental processes highlighted in the launch model. The

previous literature suggests a number of possibilities that might be investigated in such a model.

Specifically, researchers have considered several domains in assessing the etiology of problem

behaviors in adolescence moving outward from the individual to immediate and more distal social

influences. First, research and theory on between-individual differences that are influential in

adolescent deviance often points to a behavioral ‘‘propensity’’ or ‘‘potential.’’ These factors, which

include things like self-control and emotionality (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990; Lahey & Waldman,

2005), are believed to vary across individuals and usually comprise aspects of a youth’s personality

and temperament that condition their actions in response to environmental stimuli.

While it is clear that individual constitutional factors affect antisocial behavior in adolescence,

identification of such influences is unlikely to fully explain the emergence of antisocial behavior

(Sampson & Laub, 1993); this requires the inclusion of social influences in developmental models.

Among these influences, the immediate social context, reflected in family and peers, is prominent in

104 Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 12(2)