Predicting Adult Under-and Over-Reporting of Self-Reported Arrests From Discrepancies in Adolescent Self-Reports of Arrests: A Research Note

• NCJ Number: 251844
• Journal: Crime & Delinquency Volume: 63 Issue: 4 Dated: 2017 Pages: 412-428
• Author(s): Amanda D. Emmert; Ama L. Carlock; Alan J. Lizotte
• Date Published: 2017
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): 86-JN-CX-0007
• Sponsoring Agency: Office of Justice Programs (OJP)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Building on previous research, this study investigated whether discrepancies between official and self-reported measures of arrests as an adult can be predicted from such discrepancies as an adolescent.

Abstract

The study used longitudinal data from the Rochester Youth Development Study to assess whether a pattern existed in adolescent and adult under-reporting and over-reporting of arrests. It found consistency in under-reporting and over-reporting throughout the adolescent through young adult life course. This means that when respondents misreported the number of arrests they had experienced, they did so consistently, regardless of age. This is reassuring for scholars using self-report data, since under-reporting and over-reporting behaviors remain stable over this span of the life course. The models used to predict discrepancies in official and self-reported arrests during the combined period of adolescence and young adulthood were both found to be extremely strong. These findings support the continued use of self-report measures as a valid indicator of delinquency. (Publisher abstract modified)