Violent Victimization and Low Self-Control: The Mediating Effect of Risky Lifestyles

This study advances a multidimensional risky lifestyles scale (i.e., casual sex, drug involvement, active nightlife, peer deviance affiliation, and conflict escalation) and tests whether behaviors that bring people into contact with motivated offenders in the absence of capable guardianship mediates the relationship between low self-control and violent victimization. Using cross-sectional survey data from a university-based sample (N = 554), a second-order confirmatory factor model for risky lifestyles is estimated. Multivariate regression equations are used to test the effect of low self-control on violent victimization, and also to determine whether risky lifestyles acts as a mediator variable. The results show that the risky lifestyles scale fully mediates the relationship between low self-control and violent victimization. This observation holds across different measurement approaches and modeling strategies. Additional tests reveal that, when the scale is disaggregated, the effects of the individual dimensions of risky lifestyle vary in terms of effect size and level of statistical significance. While the multidimensional scale has sound psychometric properties, possesses robust directional accuracy, and reflects a broad array of risky behaviors, further refinement is necessary.