Jamie Newsome

Genetic and Environmental Overlap Between Delinquent Peer Association and Delinquency in Adolescence

Delinquent peer association and criminal/delinquent behaviors are highly intertwined. The directionality and mechanisms underlying this relationship, however, have been debated in the literature for decades. The current study seeks to further inform this debate by examining whether individual differences at the level of the genome can help to explain the association between delinquent peer affiliation and delinquency. Using the twin and full-sibling subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), behavioral genetic methodology is used to examine whether delinquent peer affiliation and delinquency in adolescence covary as the result of common genetic factors. Results indicate that delinquent peer association and delinquency are moderately influenced by additive genetic factors, and that common genes are in fact influencing the covariance between the two outcomes. The importance of incorporating genetic explanations into traditional theories of delinquency is discussed.

Interaction of 5HTTLPR and marijuana use on property offending

This study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health to examine whether a polymorphism in the serotonin transporter gene (5HTTLPR) moderates the effects of marijuana use on property offending. The results reveal that 5HTTLPR interacts with marijuana use to predict significantly higher levels of property offending for African American females. The interaction coefficient is not statistically significant for Caucasian males, African American males, or Caucasian females. These findings suggest that marijuana use is associated only with higher levels of property offending among African American females who carry one or more copies of the 5HTTLPR short allele.

The Risk-Need-Responsivity Model Revisited: Using Biosocial Criminology to Enhance Offender Rehabilitation:

During the past four decades, researchers and practitioners working in corrections have shifted from a “nothing works” to a “what works” orientation. Emphasizing the importance of adopting evidence-based interventions, Andrews and Bonta have argued that efforts to rehabilitate offenders should adhere to a number of specified principles of effective intervention, three of which—risk, need, and responsivity—are considered the most critical. These principles were derived from Andrews and Bonta’s theory of the psychology of criminal conduct, which underscores the necessity to link correctional practice to empirically defensible theories of offending. The vast majority of research has provided evidence of the effectiveness of the risk-need-responsivity model; however, far less attention has been given to expanding its theoretical foundation. Given the wealth of evidence supporting biosocial explanations of criminal behavior, we consider potential avenues for enhancing the risk-need-responsivity model through the integration of key findings from biosocial research.

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.

Does early paternal involvement predict offspring developmental diagnoses

BACKGROUND A long line of research has illustrated that fathers play an important role in the development of their children. Few studies, however, have examined the impact of paternal involvement at the earliest stages of life on developmental diagnoses in childhood. AIMS The present study extends this line of research by exploring the possibility that paternal involvement prenatally, postnatally, and at the time of birth may influence offspring risk for various diagnoses in childhood. STUDY DESIGN A quasi-experimental, propensity score matching design was used to create treatment and control groups to assess the relationship between paternal involvement at each stage of development and developmental diagnoses. SUBJECTS Approximately 6000 children, and a subsample of fathers, who participated in the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Birth Cohort (ECLS-B). OUTCOME MEASURES Activity, attention and learning, speech or language, and other diagnoses in early childhood, and overall number of diagnoses at 4years of age. RESULTS We find no consistent evidence that low paternal involvement prenatally or postnatally increases the risk of various developmental diagnoses by age 4. However, children whose fathers were absent at the time of their birth were at significantly greater risk of incurring various developmental diagnoses, as well as a significantly greater number of developmental diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS The findings expand our understanding of exactly how early paternal influence begins and the specific dimensions of early father behaviors that are related to the risk of various developmental diagnoses. Ultimately, these results have important implications concerning father involvement during the earliest stages of the life course.

Psychosocial and genetic risk markers for longitudinal trends in delinquency: an empirical assessment and practical discussion

The increased use of biosocial perspectives in criminological research has expanded the scope of factors considered in understanding the etiology of adolescent antisocial behavior. At the same time, its practical utility for preventive and remedial intervention has not been examined to the same degree. Using a large, nationally representative sample of youth (N = 2573) and a series of latent growth curve models, this study examines the relative utility of a psychosocial risk composite and genetic indicators (DRD2, DRD4, DAT1, 5-HTTLPR, MAO-A) in predicting the onset and later developmental patterns of adolescent and early adult delinquency and criminal behavior. The results show that the psychosocial risk composite measure has significant effects on the latent growth factors, while the main and interactive effects of the genetic indicators do not. The subsequent discussion considers the practical implications of these empirical findings in the context of extant research and pinpoints some possible future applications of this area of research. It also identifies some parallel cases of translational criminology that may serve as indications of how this research might inform policy and practice going forward.