Child Development · 1987 · 196 citations · 0 references
EducationHuman DevelopmentSocial PsychologyAdolescent DevelopmentDevelopmental PsychopathologySocial-emotional DevelopmentAdolescent Social DevelopmentParentingPeer InfluencePeer PressurePeer RelationsPeer RelationshipsAdolescent Peer RelationsAntisocial Behavior In AdolescentsAntisocial Peer InfluencePeer Influence On DelinquencyResistance To Peer Pressure
Adolescents in single‑parent households are more likely to engage in deviant behavior than those in two‑parent families, presumably because an additional adult provides greater behavioral control. The study compared fifth‑ to ninth‑grade students from three family structures—both parents, mother alone, or one parent plus a stepparent—examining their susceptibility to peer pressure while controlling for sex, age, socioeconomic status, maternal employment, and family decision‑making patterns. Children raised by both parents were less susceptible to peer pressure to deviate, whereas those in stepfamilies were just as at risk as children in single‑parent households.
According to a recent report, adolescents living in single-parent households are more likely to engage in deviant activity than are youngsters living with both natural parents, or in single-parent, extended households, allegedly because the presence of an additional adult provides greater control of youngsters' behavior. In the present study, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth graders from 1 of 3 family structures (both natural parents, mother alone, or 1 natural parent and a stepparent) were compared with respect to their susceptibility to peer pressure to engage in deviant activity. All comparisons controlled for sex, age, socioeconomic status, maternal employment, and patterns of family decision making. Youngsters living with both natural parents were less susceptible to pressure from their friends to engage in deviant behavior than youngsters living in other family structures. More important, youngsters growing up in stepfamilies--in the presence of an additional adult--were equally at risk for involvement in deviant behavior as were their peers growing up in single-parent households.