Risk and Protective Factors in the Development of Problem Behavior During Adolescence

• NCJ Number: 181502
• Journal: Journal of Youth and Adolescence Volume: 28 Issue: 6 Dated: December 1999 Pages: 667-685
• Author(s): Maja Dekovic
• Date Published: December 1999
• Length: 19 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Netherlands Ministry of Health
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study extends previous work by examining the ways in which multiple sources of risk and protection may contribute to the development of both externalizing and internalizing problems during adolescence.

Abstract

The sample consisted of 508 families with adolescents (254 females and 254 males). Three age groups were represented: early adolescence (12- and 13-year-olds), middle adolescence (14- and 15- year-olds), and late adolescence (between 16- to 18-years old). Data for the study were collected as part of a national program, "Child-Rearing in the Netherlands in the 1990s." The families were selected from a larger sample of 10,000 families representative of the Dutch population. A battery of questionnaires was administered individually to adolescents, mothers, and fathers. The measures of problem behavior focused on internalizing and externalizing problems. Two risk factors represented the individual attributes of adolescents: low achievement motivation and low self-esteem. Two measures constituted risk factors within the family: high strictness and low support. Association with deviant peers and extreme peer orientation were measures of extrafamilial relations. Variables pertinent to protective factors were active coping, high academic achievement, attachment to parents, monitoring, acceptance by peers, and attachment to peers. Findings show that the individual attributes of the adolescent play an important role, both as a risk and as a protection, for the development of internalizing problems, but they appear to be of less importance for the development of externalizing problems. The family attributes seem to be important for both types of problem behavior. The relationship with peers, especially the association with deviant peers, has both a risk and a protective effect for the development of problem behavior. When index of the number of risk and protective factors is used, it appears that the amount of risk has a stronger relation to variation in problem behavior than protection. In this sample, no evidence was found for the moderating effect of the protective factors. 3 tables and 58 references