Common Predictors for Explaining Youth Antisocial Behavior: A Perspective From Ten Longitudinal Studies

Abstract

For centuries humans have and continue to interact to bring change and homeostasis in their lives. Their interaction centers among roles played within the human developmental stages from toddler to preadolescent, to adolescent, to young adult, and thereafter to adulthood. Often the changes that occur take attitudinal, behavioral, and/or relational forms. These are often examined in research, using cross-section, prospective, or retrospective longitudinal study designs. Longitudinal research has enabled researchers to describe the emergence of violence in terms of two (and possibly more) life-course trajectories. In the early-onset trajectory, this is before puberty, and in the late-onset trajectory occurring after puberty. These two trajectories offer insights into the likely course, severity, and duration of antisocial behavior over the life span. They also have practical implications for the timing of intervention programs and strategies. These trajectories along with the results from longitudinal studies have generated causal relationships between early antisocial behavior and increases in crime and violence. This article conducts a brief, yet critical, evaluation of ten popular longitudinal studies to explain what factors can predict youth antisocial behaviors. It briefly presents a discussion on the study of antisocial behavior in the last five decades, a review of how antisocial behavior and factors relating to it have been studied, and findings on each of the ten longitudinal studies. It then discusses the common predictors found after pooling together similar factors found in each study, followed by recommendations for future study and use.