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01-07-2007 | Original Paper

The Role of Peer Contacts in the Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Adolescents' Externalizing Behaviors: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach

Auteurs: Ellen Reitz, Peter Prinzie, Maja Deković, Kirsten L. Buist

Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence | Uitgave 5/2007

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the direct and indirect effects (through peer contacts) of parental knowledge on adolescents’ delinquent and aggressive problem behavior, using latent growth curve modeling. A sample of 457 13- to 14-year old adolescents at first measurement wave (M=13.27; SD=0.45 years) filled out questionnaires about their parents, peers, and problem behavior three times with 1-year intervals in between. Regarding initial levels of behavior, both direct and indirect effects of parental knowledge were found on aggressive as well as on delinquent behavior. When the rate of change in behaviors was considered, only direct effects were found for both types of problem behavior, whereas indirect effects were absent. Gender differences were also found, with stronger effects of parenting on both aggressive and delinquent problem behavior for boys and stronger effects of peer contacts on aggressive behavior for girls. The present study shows that different behaviors of the externalizing spectrum have different trajectories and diverse relations with parenting and should not be treated as identical.

vorige artikel The Tangled Web: Delinquency, Deception, and Parental Attachment

volgende artikel Violent Victimization, Aggression, and Parent-Adolescent Relations: Quality Parenting as a Buffer for Violently Victimized Youth

We investigated whether the growth models differed for 13- and 14-year-olds. The findings indicated no significant differences between the two age groups for any of the variables in the study. Given the smaller age range in our sample of 457 adolescents, the rather small standard deviation (0.45), and the fact that no significant differences were found within the sample, we decided to study the sample as a whole.

Although structural equation modeling has the advantage to model and remove measurement error in growth parameters, we decided to use scale scores instead of item-level data for the following reasons. The first-order latent growth models that we use in our study have also been used in a number of other studies to analyze change in for example substance use (Duncan and Duncan, 1994), deviant behavior (Willett and Sayer, 1994), and family functioning (Willett et al., 1991). A first-order growth model becomes a problem when variable X is a multiple measured variable (a composite of the same instrument administered to for example youth, parents, and teachers). Hancock et al. (2001) illustrate this in their article and show that a second-order factor structure than becomes more appropriate. A second reason is that our models with item-level data would lead to extremely complex models and the number of parameters estimated will exceed current recommendations for subject to parameter ratios.

Table 2

Fit indices for linear and nonlinear latent growth curve models of changes in problem behavior, parental knowledge, and peer contacts

	df	χ²	p	SRMR	NNFI	CFI
Individual growth models
Delinquent behavior—Linear ^a	3	0.361	.948	0.01	1.00	1.00
Delinquent behavior—Nonlinear	2	0.004	.998	0.00	1.00	1.00
Aggressive behavior—Linear	3	0.611	.894	0.01	1.00	1.00
Aggressive behavior—Nonlinear	2	0.492	.782	0.01	1.00	1.00
Knowledge—Linear	3	18.370	.000	0.03	0.97	0.97
Knowledge—Nonlinear	2	6.649	.036	0.04	0.98	0.99
Peer Contacts—Linear	3	13.243	.004	0.05	0.98	0.98
Peer Contacts—Nonlinear	2	13.105	.001	0.05	0.97	0.98
Growth models of direct and indirect effects on problem behavior ^b
a. Delinquent behavior—Knowledge	29	64.139	.000	0.04	0.97	0.98
b. Aggressive behavior—Knowledge	29	57.606	.001	0.04	0.98	0.98

^aBest-fitting models are italicized.

^bThe models a and b correspond with the models a and b in Fig. 1.

Table 3

Parameter estimates for latent growth curve models of problem behavior, parental knowledge, and peer contacts

	Delinquency	Aggression	Knowledge	Peer Contacts
Intercept: Mean	0.331^***	0.422^***	2.933^***	3.335^***
Variance	0.026^***	0.044^***	0.223^***	0.624^***
Slope: Mean	0.028^***	−0.031^***	−0.127^***	0.149^***
Variance	0.001	0.004^**	0.051^**	0.063^***
Covariance intercept—slope	−0.002	−0.003	−0.023	−0.073^***

^** p<.01; ^*** p<.001.

We investigated mediation effects by testing an unmediated model (a model with paths only from parental knowledge to problem behavior) and compared this model with a mediated model (where we also estimated paths from parental knowledge to peer contacts and from peer contacts to problem behavior). The mediated model provided a significantly better fit than the unmediated model (delinquent behavior: Δχ²=60.87, Δdf=4, p<.001; aggressive behavior: Δχ²=26.67, Δdf=4, p<.001). However, the path coefficients between parental knowledge and problem behavior remained approximately equal in both models.

We also tested the possibility that parental knowledge mediates the relationship between peer contact and problem behavior. It appeared that the fit indices of both models (the model where peer contact mediates the relationship between parental knowledge and problem behavior and the model where parental knowledge mediates the relationship between peer contact and problem behavior) were approximately the same. Path coefficients were also identical, except for the path between parental knowledge and contact with peers. The model in which peer contact mediated the relation between parental knowledge and problem behavior showed higher path coefficients (−.22 for delinquent behavior and −.24 for aggressive behavior) than the model in which parental knowledge mediated the relation between peer contacts and problem behavior (−.10 for both delinquent and aggressive behavior), suggesting higher effects of parental knowledge on peer contacts than vice versa.

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Titel: The Role of Peer Contacts in the Relationship Between Parental Knowledge and Adolescents' Externalizing Behaviors: A Latent Growth Curve Modeling Approach
Auteurs: Ellen Reitz
Peter Prinzie
Maja Deković
Kirsten L. Buist
Publicatiedatum: 01-07-2007
Uitgeverij: Kluwer Academic Publishers-Plenum Publishers
Gepubliceerd in: Journal of Youth and Adolescence / Uitgave 5/2007
Print ISSN: 0047-2891
Elektronisch ISSN: 1573-6601
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-006-9150-6

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