Moving in and out of Poverty: The Within-Individual Association between Socioeconomic Status and Juvenile Delinquency

Abstract

A family’s SES can be changeable over time. This study was the first to investigate if such within-individual changes in family SES are associated with parallel fluctuations in boys’ delinquent behavior from childhood to adolescence. Participants were a community sample of boys and their caregivers (N = 503) who were assessed annually for ten consecutive years spanning ages 7–18. Fixed effects models revealed that changes in familial SES were related to changes in delinquency: Youths were more likely to offend during years in which their parents’ SES was lower than during years in which their parents’ SES was higher. Contrary to expectations, we found no evidence that this association was accounted for by families moving to different neighborhoods or by changes in parenting. Since within-individual models provide a stricter test of causality than between-individual models, these findings support claims that impacting familial SES may have a direct effect on youths’ delinquency.

Understanding the ecological context of mental, emotional, and behavioral health problems: A person‐centered approach

“…The pattern of class indicators and outcomes for the resourced and protected class underscore the protective capacities of family, neighborhood, and poverty contexts. Overall, this class's indicators are congruent with other research demonstrating the protective effects of a two‐parent household (Lauritsen, ), nurturing and supportive parenting (Lengua et al., ), perceptions of a safe neighborhood (Woolley & Grogan‐Kaylor, ), and above‐average parental socioeconomic status (Rekker et al., ).…”

Over-time Fluctuations in Parenting and Adolescent Adaptation Within Families: A Systematic Review

“…Several datasets were identified that were used in multiple studies: the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 (Chung et al 2009;Coley et al 2009;Coley et al 2008), the Pittsburgh Youth Study (Besemer et al 2016;Farrington et al 2002;Rekker et al 2015), the Research on Adolescent Development and Relationships Rekker et al 2017), the Study of Peers, Activities and Neighborhoods (Janssen et al 2018;Janssen et al 2014;Janssen et al 2016;Janssen et al 2017;Svensson et al 2017), and The Work, Family, Health Network Study (Lippold et al 2016a, b). Moreover, based on authors and sample characteristics, two unnamed datasets were identified that were assessed in multiple studies, a daily diary dataset (Bai et al 2017;Kuhlman et al 2016;) and macro timescale study (Lam et al 2016;Lam and McHale 2015).…”

“…Twenty-two studies examined the link between parental control and adolescent adaptation within families, of which 18 assessed externalizing behavior on a macro timescale. The results of several studies suggested that higher levels of parental control were simultaneously related to lower levels of externalizing behavior (Grundy et al 2010;Janssen et al 2018Janssen et al , 2014Janssen et al , 2016Laird et al 2003;Rekker et al 2015;Svensson et al 2017). However, studies have also found the opposite pattern.…”

“…Additionally, an increase in adolescent risky sexual behavior predicted a subsequent increase in paternal knowledge (Coley et al 2009). Moreover, a large number of studies reported nonsignificant concurrent and time-lagged associations of parental control with various externalizing behaviors, such as aggression and delinquency (Besemer et al 2016;Brauer 2009;Coley et al 2008Coley et al , 2009Cox et al 2018;Farrington et al 2002;Han and Grogan-Kaylor 2013;Janssen et al 2014Janssen et al , 2016Janssen et al , 2017Janssen et al , 2018Keijsers 2016;Rekker et al 2017Rekker et al , 2015Reyes et al 2015). Thus, although many included studies assessed within-family associations between parental control and adolescent externalizing behavior, the results showed mixed findings, even within the same studies and datasets.…”

“…Six studies have investigated the link between time spent together with parents and adolescent adaptation within families, each of them using a different measure of adolescent adaptation. Starting with the macro timescale, Rekker et al (2015) found that adolescents reported more time spent with parents during periods in which they reported less externalizing behavior (i.e., minor delinquency). However, Besemer et al (2016) revealed that adolescents showed higher levels of externalizing behavior simultaneously when they spent more time with parents.…”