Family influences on self-reported delinquency among high school students

We investigated the links between perceived family relationships, parental discipline style, locus of control, self-esteem and self-reported delinquency among 177 Australian teenagers. The prediction that locus of control and self-esteem would mediate the effects of family process on delinquency was tested using structural equation modelling. Although there appeared to be a good fit between the data and the proposed model, the amount of variance explained by the predictor variables was not large. Among females, the best predictor of low levels of self-reported delinquency was an inductive discipline style, whilst for males high levels of self-reported delinquency were best predicted by a punitive discipline style. Among males, positive family relations was a significant predictor of high self-esteem. No mediating effects of self-esteem and locus of control were observed. The findings are discussed with reference to previous research, and some implications for clinical practice are also noted. (C) 1996 The Association for Professionals in Services for Adolescents