This article was downloaded by: [Central Michigan University] On: 13 October 2014, At: 07:58 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK
The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vgnt20
Childhood Aggression, Adolescent Delinquency, and Drug Use: A Longitudinal Study a
b
Judith S. Brook , Martin M. Whiteman & Steven Finch a
Department of Psychiatry , New York Medical College
b
School of Social Work, Columbia University
c
c
Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics , State University at Stony Brook Published online: 21 Oct 2013.
To cite this article: Judith S. Brook , Martin M. Whiteman & Steven Finch (1992) Childhood Aggression, Adolescent Delinquency, and Drug Use: A Longitudinal Study, The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 153:4, 369-383, DOI: 10.1080/00221325.1992.10753733 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1992.10753733
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/ page/terms-and-conditions
The Journal of Generir Psycholo[iy, 153(4). 369- 383
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
Childhood Aggression, Adolescent Delinquency, and Drug Use: A Longitudinal Study JUDITH S. BROOK Department of Psychiatry New York Medical College
MARTIN M. WHITEMAN School of Social Work Co lumbia Un iversity
STEVEN FINCH Department of Applied Math ematics and Sta tistics State University at Stony Brook
ABSTRACT The interrelation of childhood aggression, earl y and late adolescent delinquency, and dru g use was explored. Data were obtained for the subjects when they were 5- l 0 years old . Follow-up interviews were conducted when the subjects were between 13-18 years old and again when they were 15- 20 years old. A LISREL analysis of the three waves of data indicated that childhood aggression is a precursor of adolesce nt drug use and delinquency, and that early adolescent drug use is corre lated with contemporaneous delinquency as well as with later drug use and delinquency.
DELINQUENCY AND DRUG USE ARE SERIOUS CONCERNS in contemporary society. A number of researchers have examined the relationship between drug use and delinquency and found that the two are statistically assoc iated (Bachman, Johnston, & O' Malley, 198 1; Brook , Lukoff, & Whiteman , 1980; Elliott & Huizinga , 1984; Jessor, Donovan, & Widmer, 1980; John so n, Wi sh, & Hui zin ga, 1983 ; Kaplan, 1980; Robins & Wish, 1977 ; This research was supported by grants DA03 188-09 and RSDA Research Scientist Award (Level II ), DA 00094 fro m th e National In stitute on Drug Abuse to Judith Brook. Address corresp ondence to Judith Brook , Departm ent of Psychiatry, New York Medical College, Va lhalla , N Y 10595 . 369
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
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Tu c hfe ld , C lay to n , & Logan , 1982). Neverthe less, these studies warrant re pli catio n a nd ex tens io n . Resea rchers d iffe r w ith regard to the causa l re latio nship between dru g usc and de li nqu ency (Jo hn so n et al. , 1983) . Some be lieve th at dru g use causes de linque ncy. A hypo thes ized mec hani sm in vo lves the direc t psyc hopharmaco logic effects of the dru g . Drug use mi ght make an individu a l more im pul sive and , thu s , less concerned w ith the immedi ate ri sks as we ll as the mo re re mo te conseque nces o f de linque nt ac ts. At the sa me ti me the dru g user may be mo re attrac ted to the dru g 's immed iate e ffec ts and , as a res ult , pe rfo rm acts that he or she wo uld not o therw ise . A mo re indirec t mechani sm is exemplifi ed by a d ru g user who co mmit s crimes to obtain money to purchase a d rug. Support fo r th e impac t of dru g use o n de linquency is prov ided by Kande l , S imc ha-Fagan , and Dav ies ( 1986) , who reported th at ma rij uana use durin g ado lescence is assoc iated w ith later de linque ncy amo ng fe males . Moreover, Newcomb and Bentl er ( 1988) repo rted that drug use during ado lescence is assoc iated w ith d rug-re lated c rimes during yo ung adulthood . A seco nd line o f ev ide nce concern s the impac t o f de linque ncy o n later drug use. Some resea rchers d iffe r reg arding the causal im pac t o f de linquency on later drug use. Several researc he rs have reported th at de linque nc y is a ri sk fac tor fo r later d rug use (Haw kin s , Li shner, Jenso n , & Catalano , 1987 ; S imcha-Faga n & Gerste n , 198 6). Kande l et al. (1 986) fo und th at thi s was true fo r ma les. In o ur prev io us lo ng itudin al stud y (B rook et al. , 1980) , we fo und that de linque ncy is a predictor of drug use among Black and White ado lescent s of bo th sexes . The e mpi ri ca l researc h on the co nnecti on between drug use and delinque ncy is surpri sin g ly devo id of studies th at examine poss ible common antecedents of drug use and delinquency. According to the co mmon cause mode l, both d rug use and delinque nc y may be the effect o f an underlying conditi on(s). Some fac to r, whether biological, personal , o r social, may lead an ad o lescent to use dru gs and to engage in de linquent acts . Illu strative of thi s is agg ress ive ness that re fl ects both anger and impul sivity-compo ne nts th at can be implicated in ac ting -out be havi ors . As noted by Robins and Wish ( 1977) , drug use and de linquency may be part o f a sing le syndrome that refi ec ts a clini cal conditi o n th at, in turn , is evidence of an underly ing conduct d isorder, presumably one that began be fore the de linquency or the drug use did (Rob ins, 1966, 1978) . A nother poss ibility is th at drug use and de linquenc y re fl ect commo n soc ial deve lo pme ntal processes (Hawkin s & We iss, 198 5) or a more genera l dev iant li fes tyle (Jessor & Jessor, 1977). Based o n prev io us research , we hypo thes ized th at agg ress io n is a sig ni fica nt fac tor for later drug use. Two possib il it ies are (a) th at agg ressiveness is a co mm on cause o f dru g use and de linque ncy and has a di rec t im pac t o n both , and (b) th at aggressive ness is an
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
Brook. Whit eman . & Fi nch
37 1
underl yin g cause e ithe r of de linquency (through the intermedi ary of drug use) or of dru g use (thro ug h the intermediary of delinque ncy). The refore , in the prese nt stud y we exa mined the hypothes is that aggress io n contributes to the developme nt of drug use and delinque ncy in one of these two ways. Thi s hypothesi s was derived mainl y fro m the work o f Rob in s ( 1978). Ke ll am , Brown , Rubin , and Ens minger ( 1983) conducted a stud y of Bl ack childre n , who we re first see n at age 6 and then at age 16- 17. and found th at earl y agg ress ion has lo ng- te rm conseq ue nces for later drug use. Moreover. Block , Bl ock, and Keyes ( 1988) reported that the antecedents o f late r drug use in c lud e childhood aggress io n . Several landmark studies have indi cated that aggression is assoc iated with late r delinquency. In the ir stud y of boys fro m childhood to adulthood, Glueck and Glueck ( 1950) re ported that de linque nt s differed from no nde linque nt s in te rms o f aggressive behavior. Robin s ( 1966) reported in he r c lass ic stud y that she did not find any cases of adult sociopathy th at d id no t in volve aggress ive antisocial behavior before age 18, and in boys , the anti soc ial behavi ora l sympto ms began well before ado lescence. Also , Wes t and Farri ngton ( 1977) found that teac he rs' ratin gs of class room agg ressive ness in boys as yo ung as 8 years pred icted late r juvenile and adu lt crime , vio lent and nonvi o le nt. Aggress io n has bee n found to be related not o nl y to later dru g use, but a lso to a number of other clinical sy ndromes , such as conduct disorders, atte nti on de ficit disorders, and hype rac ti vit y (John son & Kaplan , 1988). Generally, previou s research has not studied separately the deve lopme ntal path s to drug use and delinquency for males and female s. Three theories th at concern sex differences in the psyc hosoc ial conseque nces of drug use have bee n proposed . First , some claim th at alcohol and drugs will have a greater intrapsyc hic e ffect o n fe males th an on males, becau se of physical vulnerab ility, soc ial cont rol and labe ling, and/or internali zed sex ro le norm s . Thi s theory has been re ferred to as the generalized fema le vulnerability hy pothesis (Braude & Ludford , 1984; Rosenbaum , 198 1) . A second perspective suggests that men are more vulnerabl e to certa in behavioral and interpersonal consequences of drug use (Hser, Anglin, & Boo th , 1987; Robbin s, 1989; Saxon, Kunce! , & Kaufman , 1980). According to thi s viewpoint, which has been referred to as styles of devian ce, dru g use affec ts me n's social and behavioral probl ems more than it does women 's . According to a third perspecti ve, th e con vergence hypothesis, sex differences have a minimal effect on drug use (Adler, 1975) . Our stud y differed from prev io us studies in that it exami ned separate ly c hildhood factors that are predi ctive of future drug use and de linque ncy in males and females. Our assumption th at there may be sex diffe rences in th e developmental path s to drug use and de linque ncy is based on research th at illu strates differential soc iali zati on of the sexes and differenti al cultural views of what is appropri ate fo r males and what is appropriate for female s (Jersild , Brook , & Brook , 1978) .
372
The Jo u rnal of GenN i
The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vgnt20
Childhood Aggression, Adolescent Delinquency, and Drug Use: A Longitudinal Study a
b
Judith S. Brook , Martin M. Whiteman & Steven Finch a
Department of Psychiatry , New York Medical College
b
School of Social Work, Columbia University
c
c
Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics , State University at Stony Brook Published online: 21 Oct 2013.
To cite this article: Judith S. Brook , Martin M. Whiteman & Steven Finch (1992) Childhood Aggression, Adolescent Delinquency, and Drug Use: A Longitudinal Study, The Journal of Genetic Psychology: Research and Theory on Human Development, 153:4, 369-383, DOI: 10.1080/00221325.1992.10753733 To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00221325.1992.10753733
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR ARTICLE Taylor & Francis makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of all the information (the “Content”) contained in the publications on our platform. However, Taylor & Francis, our agents, and our licensors make no representations or warranties whatsoever as to the accuracy, completeness, or suitability for any purpose of the Content. Any opinions and views expressed in this publication are the opinions and views of the authors, and are not the views of or endorsed by Taylor & Francis. The accuracy of the Content should not be relied upon and should be independently verified with primary sources of information. Taylor and Francis shall not be liable for any losses, actions, claims, proceedings, demands, costs, expenses, damages, and other liabilities whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with, in relation to or arising out of the use of the Content. This article may be used for research, teaching, and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproduction, redistribution, reselling, loan, sub-licensing,
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
systematic supply, or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/ page/terms-and-conditions
The Journal of Generir Psycholo[iy, 153(4). 369- 383
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
Childhood Aggression, Adolescent Delinquency, and Drug Use: A Longitudinal Study JUDITH S. BROOK Department of Psychiatry New York Medical College
MARTIN M. WHITEMAN School of Social Work Co lumbia Un iversity
STEVEN FINCH Department of Applied Math ematics and Sta tistics State University at Stony Brook
ABSTRACT The interrelation of childhood aggression, earl y and late adolescent delinquency, and dru g use was explored. Data were obtained for the subjects when they were 5- l 0 years old . Follow-up interviews were conducted when the subjects were between 13-18 years old and again when they were 15- 20 years old. A LISREL analysis of the three waves of data indicated that childhood aggression is a precursor of adolesce nt drug use and delinquency, and that early adolescent drug use is corre lated with contemporaneous delinquency as well as with later drug use and delinquency.
DELINQUENCY AND DRUG USE ARE SERIOUS CONCERNS in contemporary society. A number of researchers have examined the relationship between drug use and delinquency and found that the two are statistically assoc iated (Bachman, Johnston, & O' Malley, 198 1; Brook , Lukoff, & Whiteman , 1980; Elliott & Huizinga , 1984; Jessor, Donovan, & Widmer, 1980; John so n, Wi sh, & Hui zin ga, 1983 ; Kaplan, 1980; Robins & Wish, 1977 ; This research was supported by grants DA03 188-09 and RSDA Research Scientist Award (Level II ), DA 00094 fro m th e National In stitute on Drug Abuse to Judith Brook. Address corresp ondence to Judith Brook , Departm ent of Psychiatry, New York Medical College, Va lhalla , N Y 10595 . 369
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
370
The Jo11mal of" Cene1ic Ps\'chology
Tu c hfe ld , C lay to n , & Logan , 1982). Neverthe less, these studies warrant re pli catio n a nd ex tens io n . Resea rchers d iffe r w ith regard to the causa l re latio nship between dru g usc and de li nqu ency (Jo hn so n et al. , 1983) . Some be lieve th at dru g use causes de linque ncy. A hypo thes ized mec hani sm in vo lves the direc t psyc hopharmaco logic effects of the dru g . Drug use mi ght make an individu a l more im pul sive and , thu s , less concerned w ith the immedi ate ri sks as we ll as the mo re re mo te conseque nces o f de linque nt ac ts. At the sa me ti me the dru g user may be mo re attrac ted to the dru g 's immed iate e ffec ts and , as a res ult , pe rfo rm acts that he or she wo uld not o therw ise . A mo re indirec t mechani sm is exemplifi ed by a d ru g user who co mmit s crimes to obtain money to purchase a d rug. Support fo r th e impac t of dru g use o n de linquency is prov ided by Kande l , S imc ha-Fagan , and Dav ies ( 1986) , who reported th at ma rij uana use durin g ado lescence is assoc iated w ith later de linque ncy amo ng fe males . Moreover, Newcomb and Bentl er ( 1988) repo rted that drug use during ado lescence is assoc iated w ith d rug-re lated c rimes during yo ung adulthood . A seco nd line o f ev ide nce concern s the impac t o f de linque ncy o n later drug use. Some resea rchers d iffe r reg arding the causal im pac t o f de linquency on later drug use. Several researc he rs have reported th at de linque nc y is a ri sk fac tor fo r later d rug use (Haw kin s , Li shner, Jenso n , & Catalano , 1987 ; S imcha-Faga n & Gerste n , 198 6). Kande l et al. (1 986) fo und th at thi s was true fo r ma les. In o ur prev io us lo ng itudin al stud y (B rook et al. , 1980) , we fo und that de linque ncy is a predictor of drug use among Black and White ado lescent s of bo th sexes . The e mpi ri ca l researc h on the co nnecti on between drug use and delinque ncy is surpri sin g ly devo id of studies th at examine poss ible common antecedents of drug use and delinquency. According to the co mmon cause mode l, both d rug use and delinque nc y may be the effect o f an underlying conditi on(s). Some fac to r, whether biological, personal , o r social, may lead an ad o lescent to use dru gs and to engage in de linquent acts . Illu strative of thi s is agg ress ive ness that re fl ects both anger and impul sivity-compo ne nts th at can be implicated in ac ting -out be havi ors . As noted by Robins and Wish ( 1977) , drug use and de linquency may be part o f a sing le syndrome that refi ec ts a clini cal conditi o n th at, in turn , is evidence of an underly ing conduct d isorder, presumably one that began be fore the de linquency or the drug use did (Rob ins, 1966, 1978) . A nother poss ibility is th at drug use and de linquenc y re fl ect commo n soc ial deve lo pme ntal processes (Hawkin s & We iss, 198 5) or a more genera l dev iant li fes tyle (Jessor & Jessor, 1977). Based o n prev io us research , we hypo thes ized th at agg ress io n is a sig ni fica nt fac tor for later drug use. Two possib il it ies are (a) th at agg ressiveness is a co mm on cause o f dru g use and de linque ncy and has a di rec t im pac t o n both , and (b) th at aggressive ness is an
Downloaded by [Central Michigan University] at 07:58 13 October 2014
Brook. Whit eman . & Fi nch
37 1
underl yin g cause e ithe r of de linquency (through the intermedi ary of drug use) or of dru g use (thro ug h the intermediary of delinque ncy). The refore , in the prese nt stud y we exa mined the hypothes is that aggress io n contributes to the developme nt of drug use and delinque ncy in one of these two ways. Thi s hypothesi s was derived mainl y fro m the work o f Rob in s ( 1978). Ke ll am , Brown , Rubin , and Ens minger ( 1983) conducted a stud y of Bl ack childre n , who we re first see n at age 6 and then at age 16- 17. and found th at earl y agg ress ion has lo ng- te rm conseq ue nces for later drug use. Moreover. Block , Bl ock, and Keyes ( 1988) reported that the antecedents o f late r drug use in c lud e childhood aggress io n . Several landmark studies have indi cated that aggression is assoc iated with late r delinquency. In the ir stud y of boys fro m childhood to adulthood, Glueck and Glueck ( 1950) re ported that de linque nt s differed from no nde linque nt s in te rms o f aggressive behavior. Robin s ( 1966) reported in he r c lass ic stud y that she did not find any cases of adult sociopathy th at d id no t in volve aggress ive antisocial behavior before age 18, and in boys , the anti soc ial behavi ora l sympto ms began well before ado lescence. Also , Wes t and Farri ngton ( 1977) found that teac he rs' ratin gs of class room agg ressive ness in boys as yo ung as 8 years pred icted late r juvenile and adu lt crime , vio lent and nonvi o le nt. Aggress io n has bee n found to be related not o nl y to later dru g use, but a lso to a number of other clinical sy ndromes , such as conduct disorders, atte nti on de ficit disorders, and hype rac ti vit y (John son & Kaplan , 1988). Generally, previou s research has not studied separately the deve lopme ntal path s to drug use and delinquency for males and female s. Three theories th at concern sex differences in the psyc hosoc ial conseque nces of drug use have bee n proposed . First , some claim th at alcohol and drugs will have a greater intrapsyc hic e ffect o n fe males th an on males, becau se of physical vulnerab ility, soc ial cont rol and labe ling, and/or internali zed sex ro le norm s . Thi s theory has been re ferred to as the generalized fema le vulnerability hy pothesis (Braude & Ludford , 1984; Rosenbaum , 198 1) . A second perspective suggests that men are more vulnerabl e to certa in behavioral and interpersonal consequences of drug use (Hser, Anglin, & Boo th , 1987; Robbin s, 1989; Saxon, Kunce! , & Kaufman , 1980). According to thi s viewpoint, which has been referred to as styles of devian ce, dru g use affec ts me n's social and behavioral probl ems more than it does women 's . According to a third perspecti ve, th e con vergence hypothesis, sex differences have a minimal effect on drug use (Adler, 1975) . Our stud y differed from prev io us studies in that it exami ned separate ly c hildhood factors that are predi ctive of future drug use and de linque ncy in males and females. Our assumption th at there may be sex diffe rences in th e developmental path s to drug use and de linque ncy is based on research th at illu strates differential soc iali zati on of the sexes and differenti al cultural views of what is appropri ate fo r males and what is appropriate for female s (Jersild , Brook , & Brook , 1978) .
372
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