PARENTAL ATTACHMENT, PARENTAL SUPERVISION AND ADOLESCENT DEVIANCE IN INTACT AND NON-INTACT FAMILIES

Abstract

ABSTRACT Utilizing a multi-site, cross-sectional sample of 8th graders, we examined the relationship between family structure and two forms of self-reported delinquency as mediated by juveniles’ perceptions ofparental attachment, supervision and values socialization. Results indicated that, overall, youth in non-intact households were more likely to be involved in both general and serious adolescent deviance than youth in intact households. However, when measures of family process were incorporated into the analyses, involvement in deviant behaviors was discovered to be primarily due to adolescents’ values socialization, specifically their neutralizations of behavior and perceptions of guilt. Parental monitoring behaviors were also related to lower levels of adolescent deviance, but findings regarding parental attachment were inconsistent across intact and non-intact family structures.