PARENTS AND PEER GROUP AS MEDIATORS OF THE EFFECT OF COMMUNITY STRUCTURE ON ADOLESCENT PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

Used a sample of 207 single-parent families residing in 104 small, Mid western communities to test hypotheses regarding the link between comm unity context and adolescent conduct problems and psychological distre ss. For boys, community disadvantage had a direct affect on psychologi cal distress while it indirectly boosted the probability of conduct pr oblems by disrupting parenting and increasing affiliation with deviant peers. Community disadvantage was unrelated to the deviant behavior o r emotional well-being of girls. Proportion of single-parent household s in the community had a direct effect on girls' conduct problems. It also contributed indirectly to girls' conduct problems by increasing t he probability of involvement with deviant peers. Possible explanation s for these gender differences are provided.