TY - JOUR
T1 - Premature adolescent autonomy
T2 - Parent disengagement and deviant peer process in the amplification of problem behaviour
AU - Dishion, Thomas J.
AU - Nelson, Sarah E.
AU - Bullock, Bernadette Marie
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by grants DA 07031 and DA 13773 from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the first author, and MH 37940, from the National Institute of Mental Health to Deborah Capaldi. Thanks to Ann Simas for editing and graphic preparation on this manuscript.
PY - 2004/10
Y1 - 2004/10
N2 - Premature autonomy describes a developmental dynamic where parents of high-risk adolescents reduce their involvement and guidance when confronted with challenges of problem behaviour and the influence of deviant friendships. This dynamic was tested on the sample of Oregon Youth Study boys (N=206), whose family management practices and friendships were observed on videotaped interaction tasks. Latent growth curve models were used to examine longitudinal trends between deviant friendship interactions and family management. Direct observations of deviant friendship process at age 14 were associated with degradation in family management during adolescence. A comparison of antisocial and well-adjusted boys clarified that parents of antisocial boys (started early and persisted) decreased family management around puberty, in comparison to parents of well-adjusted boys who maintained high levels of family management through adolescence. In predicting late adolescent problem behaviour, there was a statistically reliable interaction between family management degradation and deviant peer involvement in adolescence in support of the premature autonomy hypothesis. Adolescent males involved in deviant friendships, and whose parents decreased their family management, were most likely to use marijuana and commit antisocial acts at age 18. The implications for interventions that target adolescents are discussed.
AB - Premature autonomy describes a developmental dynamic where parents of high-risk adolescents reduce their involvement and guidance when confronted with challenges of problem behaviour and the influence of deviant friendships. This dynamic was tested on the sample of Oregon Youth Study boys (N=206), whose family management practices and friendships were observed on videotaped interaction tasks. Latent growth curve models were used to examine longitudinal trends between deviant friendship interactions and family management. Direct observations of deviant friendship process at age 14 were associated with degradation in family management during adolescence. A comparison of antisocial and well-adjusted boys clarified that parents of antisocial boys (started early and persisted) decreased family management around puberty, in comparison to parents of well-adjusted boys who maintained high levels of family management through adolescence. In predicting late adolescent problem behaviour, there was a statistically reliable interaction between family management degradation and deviant peer involvement in adolescence in support of the premature autonomy hypothesis. Adolescent males involved in deviant friendships, and whose parents decreased their family management, were most likely to use marijuana and commit antisocial acts at age 18. The implications for interventions that target adolescents are discussed.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.06.005
DO - 10.1016/j.adolescence.2004.06.005
M3 - Article
C2 - 15475044
AN - SCOPUS:4844225784
SN - 0140-1971
VL - 27
SP - 515
EP - 530
JO - Journal of Adolescence
JF - Journal of Adolescence
IS - 5
ER -