Citation

McEachern AD, Snyder J. J. Youth Adolesc. 2012; 41(8): 984-994.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1007/s10964-011-9710-2

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Research has linked many risk factors in childhood and early adolescence to antisocial behaviors in later adolescence and early adulthood; however, less attention has focused on the interaction among factors in the prediction of distinct forms of antisocial behaviors. This study investigated the additive and synergistic association of inattention-impulsivity and verbal ability with overt and covert antisocial behaviors using a high risk community sample of 270 (49.8% female) children. Multiple regression analyses indicated kindergarten inattention-impulsivity was significantly related to overt and covert antisocial behaviors and the interaction of inattention-impulsivity and verbal ability significantly predicted covert but not overt antisocial behaviors during kindergarten and first grade. Kindergarten verbal ability did not buffer the association of impulsivity-inattention with covert antisocial behavior; rather higher verbal ability was associated with increased risk for covert antisocial behavior in the presence of high levels of impulsivity-inattention. The association of inattention-impulsivity with higher levels of overt and covert antisocial behavior begins during childhood, and may set off developmental trajectories associated with the acceleration of antisocial behavior in adolescence. KW: Juvenile justice; Juvenile delinquency;

Language: en