SELF-RESTRAINT AS A MEDIATOR OF FAMILY INFLUENCES ON BOYS DELINQUENT-BEHAVIOR - A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY

In the course of social development, family influences seem to become partly internalized and transformed into personality characteristics t hat regulate behavior outside the family sphere. In a longitudinal stu dy of 81 boys and their families, we hypothesized that individual diff erences in boys' self-restraint would serve as a mediator between fami ly factors in preadolescence and sons' delinquent behavior 4 years lat er. Measures were derived from principal components analyses of multip le indices of each construct as assessed by multiple informants. As ex pected, parenting practices measured at both pre- and mid-adolescence predicted delinquent acts only indirectly via their association with b oys' self-restraint. In addition, general family functioning at preado lescence, independent of other scores, predicted boys' levels of self- restraint 4 years later. There was no evidence that boys' self-restrai nt at preadolescence systematically affected the quality of parenting that they subsequently received. Parents' and families' role in childr en's development of self-regulatory skills may be a primary vehicle by which they ultimately influence adolescents' problem behaviors.