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Citation |
Siennick SE, Widdowson AO, Feinberg ME. J. Youth Adolesc. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub. |
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Affiliation |
Edna Bennett Pierce Prevention Research Center, Pennsylvania State University, 308 Biobehavioral Health, University Park, PA, 16802, USA. |
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Copyright |
(Copyright © 2020, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group) |
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DOI |
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PMID |
32108301 |
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Abstract |
Delinquent youth often experience depression, but depression's impact on their future deviance is unclear. Using survey and social network data on a panel of 9th graders (N = 8701; Mage at baseline = 15.6; 48% male; 85% white; 18% eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch) followed throughout high school, this study tested whether depressive symptoms predicted later deviance or deviant peer affiliations among already delinquent youth. A latent class analysis revealed that 4% of respondents showed above-average levels of delinquency but not depressive symptoms, and 3% were above average on both. Compared to the delinquent-only group, the delinquent-depressed group went on to have less deviant friends, and to engage in less deviance themselves. However, peer deviance was not a reliable explanation for the reductions in respondents' own future deviance. Depressive symptoms thus may play a protective role against continued delinquency and substance use among youth who are already delinquent, but it is not because they reduce deviant peer affiliations. Language: en |