Abstract
This study examines the correlation between family variables and delinquency (both self-reported and official) in a small sample of British teenage girls. Factor analysis of the 72-item Home Life Questionnaire (from T. H. Hirschi [1969] Causes of Delinquency, University of California Press, Berkeley) revealed a clear four-factor structure of caring and communication, discipline, pressure and mother-daughter closeness, which cumulatively accounted for 31% of the variance. Multiple regression of these factors onto self-reported delinquency indicated the maternal factor to be most powerful, explaining 25% of the variance in self-reported delinquency. Institutionalized and noninstitutionalized girls showed only chance differences in terms of the quality of their home life.
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Anne Campbell's research interests are in sex differences in antisocial behavior, especially aggression.
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Campbell, A. Self-reported delinquency and home life: Evidence from a sample of British girls. J Youth Adolescence 16, 167–177 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02138918
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02138918