The mediating effects of poor parenting and disadvantaged neighborhoods on delinquent behaviours: A longitudinal model

The current study was conducted as part of a larger, longitudinal study examining the effects of negative environmental and family factors on at-risk adolescent delinquency, using data from the baseline and 4.5-year follow-up interviews. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the mediational effects of family and parenting factors on neighborhood disadvantage and delinquency in adolescence (cross-sectionally) and into young adulthood (longitudinally). The neighborhood disadvantage factor consisted of three indicators garnered from 2000 census data, median family income, neighborhood instability, and concentrated disadvantage. The delinquency factor at both time points was made up of three indicators from the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children-2.3; number of symptoms endorsed on the conduct disorder, substance and alcohol subscales. The family functioning factor included measures of family warmth, family cohesion, and family conflict. Parental monitoring served as a manifest variable. Results suggest that neighborhood disadvantage was not significantly related to delinquency at either time point. Parental monitoring was significantly associated with delinquency at baseline, not at follow-up, and mediated the effects of poor neighborhoods on adolescent delinquency. However, family functioning was not significantly related to delinquency or served as a mediator between neighborhood and delinquency. This suggests that cohesive families that manage conflict appropriately may not have incremental importance on a child's behavior beyond effective and consistent parenting.