Abstract
Examine whether parental offending is directly associated with male and female offspring patterns of delinquent behavior during adolescence and indirectly associated with risk for criminal conviction in young adulthood.
Latent growth curve models and growth mixture models are estimated using intergenerational data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to examine the effects of maternal offending on rates of growth and distinct trajectories of delinquent behavior in male and female children.
The results revealed that maternal offending was associated with higher starting levels and slower rates of decline in delinquent behavior in male and female children. Growth mixture modeling, however, revealed that a four-class solution explained patterns of delinquency in male offspring, while a three-class solution explained patterns of delinquency in female offspring. Multivariate analyses indicated that maternal offending was more strongly associated with male offending classes than female offending classes, with males in the high and slowly declining class and moderate and increasing class demonstrating the highest risk for criminal conviction in young adulthood.
Maternal offending is more strongly associated with serious patterns of delinquent behavior and risk for future criminal conviction in male offspring than in female offspring.
•Males and females have different delinquency trajectories during adolescence•Maternal delinquency is a robust correlate of offspring patterns of delinquent behavior•Maternal delinquency is more strongly associated with male patterns of delinquent behavior