TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of the maturity gap on delinquency and drug use over the life course
T2 - A genetically sensitive longitudinal design
AU - Nedelec, Joseph L.
AU - Park, Insun
AU - Silver, Ian A.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health, a program project designed by J. Richard Udry, Peter S. Bearman, and Kathleen Mullan Harris, and funded by a grant P01-HD31921 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development , with cooperative funding from 17 other agencies. Special acknowledgment is due to Ronald R. Rindfuss and Barbara Entwisle for assistance in the original design. Persons interested in obtaining data files from Add Health should contact Add Health, Carolina Population Center, 123 W. Franklin Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27516–2524 ( addhealth@unc.edu ). No direct support was received from grant P01-HD31921 for this analysis.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2016/12/1
Y1 - 2016/12/1
N2 - Purpose Relatively few studies have assessed Moffitt's claims regarding the etiology of the offending groups in her taxonomic theory. This gap is especially evident regarding adolescence-limited (AL) offending where empirical analyses of the maturity gap (the disjunction between biological and social maturity during adolescence) have produced mixed findings. Additionally, genetically sensitive analyses of the effect of the maturity gap on delinquency is entirely lacking from the literature. The current study provides such an analysis. Methods Using a sample of monozygotic (MZ) twins (NIndviduals = 524; NTwin pairs = 262) the current study addresses these gaps in the literature by assessing the influence of the maturity gap, parental conflict, and other theoretically relevant variables on delinquency and substance use in a sex-differentiated longitudinal analysis of MZ difference scores. Results Findings illustrated minimal influence of the maturity gap, parental conflict, and low self-control on delinquency and substance use in adolescence and adulthood. However, discordance in exposure to delinquent peers was associated with delinquency and substance use in adolescence but with little long-term effect. Conclusion Overall, the findings provide mixed support for Moffitt's ideas and illustrate the confounding effects of genetic factors in assessments of the etiology of antisocial behavior and tests of criminological theory.
AB - Purpose Relatively few studies have assessed Moffitt's claims regarding the etiology of the offending groups in her taxonomic theory. This gap is especially evident regarding adolescence-limited (AL) offending where empirical analyses of the maturity gap (the disjunction between biological and social maturity during adolescence) have produced mixed findings. Additionally, genetically sensitive analyses of the effect of the maturity gap on delinquency is entirely lacking from the literature. The current study provides such an analysis. Methods Using a sample of monozygotic (MZ) twins (NIndviduals = 524; NTwin pairs = 262) the current study addresses these gaps in the literature by assessing the influence of the maturity gap, parental conflict, and other theoretically relevant variables on delinquency and substance use in a sex-differentiated longitudinal analysis of MZ difference scores. Results Findings illustrated minimal influence of the maturity gap, parental conflict, and low self-control on delinquency and substance use in adolescence and adulthood. However, discordance in exposure to delinquent peers was associated with delinquency and substance use in adolescence but with little long-term effect. Conclusion Overall, the findings provide mixed support for Moffitt's ideas and illustrate the confounding effects of genetic factors in assessments of the etiology of antisocial behavior and tests of criminological theory.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.07.001
DO - 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2016.07.001
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84981507171
SN - 0047-2352
VL - 47
SP - 84
EP - 99
JO - Journal of Criminal Justice
JF - Journal of Criminal Justice
ER -