Parenting and Naturally Occurring Declines in the Antisocial Behavior of Children and Adolescents: A Process Model

This review examines why, without clinical intervention, antisocial behavior tends to decline naturally as everyday family processes unfold over time. Despite considerable research on why antisocial behavior develops and interventions that reduce it, aspects of everyday parenting that lead antisocial behavior to decline in most children without intervention are poorly understood. We examined the positive parenting and child processes that may be the basis for these declines. From research on antisocial behavior, we isolated longitudinal studies in which naturally occurring declines occurred, reviewed what is known about parenting that promotes these declines, evaluated methods needed to understand them, and have proposed a process model that details relevant parenting and child processes.