Family structure and delinquency: Antisocial cognition as a mediating mechanism

This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of family structure on future delinquency using cognitive insensitivity and cognitive impulsivity as mediators.

Employing a sample of 845 middle school students (406 boys, 439 girls), this study examined the effects of family structure on future delinquency and antisocial cognition as students progressed through the middle school years-that is, sixth through eighth grade.

Family structure, assessed as a three-level variable (two-parent home vs. stepparent/grandparent home vs. single-parent home) or as a two-level variable (two-parent/stepparent home vs. other), predicted delinquency 2 years later. Adding antisocial cognition-cognitive insensitivity and cognitive impulsivity-to the model produced significant indirect effects in which both cognitive insensitivity and cognitive impulsivity mediated the family structure-delinquency relationship.

Based on these results, it would appear that antisocial cognition plays a salient role in the association known to exist between family structure and later delinquency. The research and practical implications of these results include a call for greater use of a mediation methodology when studying the family structure-delinquency relationship and finding ways to assist families in creating control and moral values in their children.