Dylan B. Jackson

The Conditional Impact of Official Labeling on Subsequent Delinquency: Considering the Attenuating Role of Family Attachment

Objectives: Recent tests of labeling theory reveal a criminogenic effect of official labels. Drawing from Braithwaite and Sherman, the current study examines how the effects of a criminal label on recidivism vary by the degree of warmth and attachment found in the family environment. Method: Using ordinary least squares regression and product-term analysis, the authors tested their hypothesis using data from the Children at Risk program, which contains a sample of high-risk youths. Findings: Family attachment, examined across several waves of data, significantly diminishes the harmful effects of a criminal label. Conclusions: Results suggest that warm, supportive parents can reduce the likelihood that their children will reoffend. Their findings also imply that the labeling perspective may need further specification regarding the conditions under which a labeling effect is most likely to occur. Implications for juvenile justice policy are also discussed.

Household food insecurity during childhood and adolescent misconduct

A large body of research has found that household food insecurity can interfere with the healthy development of children. The link between household food insecurity during childhood and misbehaviors during adolescence, however, is not commonly explored. The objective of the current study is to assess whether household food insecurity across childhood predicts four different forms of misconduct during early adolescence. Data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-1999 (ECLS-K), a nationally representative sample of U.S. children, were employed in the present study. Associations between household food insecurity during childhood and adolescent misconduct were examined using Logistic and Negative Binomial Regression. Analyses were performed separately for males and females. The results revealed that household food insecurity and food insecurity persistence were predictive of most forms of misconduct for males, and were consistently predictive of engagement in multiple forms of misconduct and a greater variety of forms of misconduct for males. For females, however, household food insecurity generally failed to predict adolescent misconduct. The behavioral development of males during adolescence appears to be sensitive to the presence and persistence of household food insecurity during childhood. Future research should seek to replicate and extend the present findings to late adolescence and adulthood.

Does Crime Cause Punitiveness

Why are Americans so punitive toward criminals? Some theories of punitiveness suggest that exposure to crime makes people more supportive of punitive policies toward criminals. We analyzed national survey data and found that neither support for longer prison sentences for four different crimes nor support for the death penalty had a significant positive association with crime rates, prior victimization, vicarious victimization, higher perceived risk of victimization, or fear of crime. Instead, punitiveness was related to how often people watched local TV news, the percent Republican of the person’s county, and race. Support for harsh treatment of criminals therefore appears to be more a product of race, ideology, and news media presentations of crime than of the reality of crime.

The Role of Early Pubertal Development in the Relationship Between General Strain and Juvenile Crime

Agnew’s general strain (1992) theory postulates that negative relationships and negative life events can give rise to delinquency by way of negative emotions, such as anger. However, the factors that might condition the effects of general strain on juvenile delinquency remain unclear. As a result, Agnew et al. (2002) have advocated continued efforts to identify factors that moderate one’s response to strainful experiences. Using data from a national sample of adolescents, the present study responds to their request by examining how the effects of general strain on offending vary according to youths’ level of physical development. The findings suggest that advanced pubertal development may significantly increase the effects of general strain on delinquent outcomes and that these effects may differ by gender. The implications of this conclusion for criminological theory, future research, and policy are discussed.

The Interplay Between Early Father Involvement and Neonatal Medical Risk in the Prediction of Infant Neurodevelopment

The current study examines the association between early father involvement and infant neurodevelopment, and whether neonatal medical risk moderates this association. Data from approximately 6000 fathers and their children were obtained from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study: Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). Hierarchical regression was employed to analyze the data. The findings reveal that the association between early father involvement and infant neurodevelopment is contingent on both the timing of involvement (i.e., prenatal/perinatal or infancy) and offspring medical status at birth. The neurodevelopment of medically at-risk neonates was enhanced when fathers were involved during the gestational period and at the time of their birth. This relationship was not detected, however, in the case of infants who did not experience medical risks as neonates. Neonatal medical risk appears to be an important moderating factor in the link between father involvement during pregnancy and childbirth and infant neurodevelopment. Practitioners should continue to make efforts to involve fathers during gestation and childbirth. The findings of the present study suggest that doing so may protect against neurodevelopmental delays in neonates with medical risks.

Parental Incarceration and Child Sleep and Eating Behaviors

Objectives To examine whether parental incarceration is significantly associated with a number of sleep and eating behaviors among offspring during early childhood. Study design Data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Study, an at‐risk sample of parents and their offspring, were employed to test this possibility. Both maternal and paternal incarceration history were examined as predictors of whether children manifested high levels of the following 7 health behaviors: sleep problems, short sleep duration, salty snack consumption, starch consumption, sweets consumption, soda consumption, and fast food consumption. Logistic regression techniques were used to carry out the analyses. Results Both maternal and paternal incarceration significantly increased the odds of a number of risky sleep and eating behaviors during childhood. Ancillary analysis also revealed that the predicted probability of exhibiting multiple risky behaviors across the sleep and eating domains was twice as large among children whose parents had both been incarcerated, relative to children whose parents had not been incarcerated. Conclusions Parental incarceration may have important implications for the sleep and eating behaviors of offspring. Both scholars and practitioners may, therefore, want to consider the possible negative repercussions of parental incarceration for the sleep and eating behaviors of children, and the potential for these high‐risk health behaviors to compromise the health and well‐being of children as they age.

Diet quality and bullying among a cross-national sample of youth

Bullying perpetration and victimization have been linked to a number of high-risk health behaviors, including involvement in sedentary activities and sleep deprivation. Even so, the link between diet quality and bullying is generally overlooked. The present study examines the associations between diet quality, bully perpetration, and bully victimization in a cross-national sample of adolescents. Data come from the Health Behaviors of School Children (HBSC) survey, 2005/2006 (N=142,828-143,425). Youths from 41 countries/regions in North America and Europe reported features of their social context, various health behaviors, and their involvement in bullying. Approximately 11% of youth in the sample bully other youths at least 2-3 times a month, whereas 13% of youth are bullied by other youths at least 2-3 times a month. Logistic regression analyses revealed that youths with low quality diets incurred a 123% increase in the odds of attaining bully status, relative to youths with high quality diets. No such association was detected between diet quality and victim status. Results also suggest that the association between low diet quality and bully perpetration is significantly more pronounced in very developed nations (relative to developed nations). Dietary behaviors may be an important point of intervention in the effort to minimize the prevalence of bullying among youths, particularly in very developed nations. Scholars should seek to build upon the current study by exploring the mechanisms (e.g., low self-control) that might explain the association between diet quality and bullying.

Sibling differences in low birth weight, dopaminergic polymorphisms, and ADHD symptomatology: Evidence of GxE

Low birth weight has been found to increase the risk of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. However, few studies adequately control for shared environmental influences (e.g., concentrated disadvantage, family structure) or examine whether interactions between birth weight and genetic factors predict ADHD. The present study addresses these limitations in prior research by examining a) whether sibling differences in low birth weight status are significantly predictive of sibling differences in behaviors symptomatic of ADHD and b) whether sibling differences in dopaminergic genes interact with sibling differences in low birth weight status to predict sibling differences in ADHD symptomatology. The results suggest that low birth weight siblings are at significantly greater risk of exhibiting symptoms of ADHD during childhood relative to their normal birth weight siblings. Moreover, possessing greater genetic risk on three dopaminergic genes (DAT1, DRD2, and DRD4) relative to a sibling appears to exacerbate the link between sibling differences in birth weight and sibling differences in ADHD symptomatology. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed.

The Role of Adolescent Nutrition and Physical Activity in the Prediction of Verbal Intelligence during Early Adulthood: A Genetically Informed Analysis of Twin Pairs

A large body of research has revealed that nutrition and physical activity influence brain functioning at various stages of the life course. Nevertheless, very few studies have explored whether diet and exercise influence verbal intelligence as youth transition from adolescence into young adulthood. Even fewer studies have explored the link between these health behaviors and verbal intelligence while accounting for genetic and environmental factors that are shared between siblings. Employing data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, the current study uses a sample of same-sex twin pairs to test whether youth who engage in poorer fitness and nutritional practices are significantly more likely to exhibit reduced verbal intelligence during young adulthood. The results suggests that, independent of the effects of genetic and shared environmental factors, a number of nutritional and exercise factors during adolescence influence verbal intelligence during adulthood. Limitations are noted and suggestions for future research are outlined.

Adverse Housing Conditions and Early‐Onset Delinquency

Housing constitutes an important health resource for children. Research has revealed that, when housing conditions are unfavorable, they can interfere with child health, academic performance, and cognition. Little to no research, however, has considered whether adverse housing conditions and early-onset delinquency are significantly associated with one another. This study explores the associations between structural and non-structural housing conditions and delinquent involvement during childhood. Data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) were employed in this study. Each adverse housing condition was significantly associated with early-onset delinquency. Even so, disarray and deterioration were only significantly linked to early delinquent involvement in the presence of health/safety hazards. The predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed to housing risks in the presence of health/safety hazards was nearly three times as large as the predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed only to disarray and/or deterioration, and nearly four times as large as the predicted probability of early-onset delinquency among children exposed to none of the adverse housing conditions. The findings suggest that minimizing housing-related health/safety hazards among at-risk subsets of the population may help to alleviate other important public health concerns-particularly early-onset delinquency. Addressing household health/safety hazards may represent a fruitful avenue for public health programs aimed at the prevention of early-onset delinquency.