The Influence of Co-offending Within a Moderated Mediation Model of Parent and Peer Predictors of Delinquency

Parental monitoring impacts adolescent delinquency both directly by limiting unsupervised activities and indirectly by limiting access to delinquent peers. Deviant peers may influence adolescent delinquency through a number of mechanisms, and there is a lack of clarity within the literature on distinctions between co-offending and deviant peer norms as influential mechanisms. Less is known about the impact of co-offending on the mediated relationship among parental monitoring, peer delinquency, and adolescent delinquency. The current study examined the relationship between parental monitoring, deviant peer behaviors, co-offending, and self-reported delinquency among 186 court-involved youth (12–18 years old) in a small city in the Midwest. The effects of parental monitoring on delinquency were partially mediated by delinquent peer affiliation. A moderated mediation model found that co-offending moderated the association between delinquent peer affiliation and delinquency, such that the relationship between peer delinquency and self-reported delinquency is stronger for those who co-offend.