Adolescent problem behavior: the influence of parents and peers

This paper presents evidence that the Patterson et al. (1992) model of deve lopment of antisocial behavior in children generalizes to the development o f a wide array of problem behaviors during later adolescence and that youth antisocial behavior, high-risk sexual behavior, academic failure and subst ance use form a single problem behavior construct. Structural equation mode ling methods were applied to 24-month longitudinal data from 204 adolescent s and parents. The model fit the data well, accounting for 52% of the varia nce in adolescent problem behavior. Specifically, families experiencing hig h levels of conflict were more likely to have low levels of parent-child in volvement. These family conditions were related to poor parental monitoring and association with deviant peers one year later. Poor parental monitorin g and associations with deviant peers were strong proximal predictors of en gagement in an array of problem behaviors at two-year follow-up. (C) 1999 E lsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.