A Longitudinal Study of Authoritative Parenting, Juvenile Delinquency and Crime Victimization among Chinese Adolescents

Ruoshan Xiong, Spencer De Li and Yiwei Xia
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Ruoshan Xiong: Department of Sociology, University of Macau, Macau 999078, China
Spencer De Li: Department of Sociology, University of Macau, Macau 999078, China
Yiwei Xia: School of Law, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 4, 1-15

Abstract: Empirical research on the relationship between authoritative parenting and crime victimization has been sparse, although this style of parenting has been identified as an effective parenting practice for inhibiting offending behavior among children and adolescents. The current research aims at filling this gap by examining the influences of authoritative parenting on juvenile delinquency and crime victimization, as well as the mechanisms connecting the processes. Using two-wave survey data collected from a probability sample of 1066 Chinese adolescents, the current study employed a structural equation modeling analysis to test the relationships. The results indicated that authoritative parenting negatively predicted juvenile delinquency and crime victimization. Further, adolescent mental health problems and delinquent peer association partially mediated the influence of authoritative parenting on delinquency, while adolescent mental health problems, delinquent peer association, and juvenile delinquency fully mediated the relationship between authoritative parenting and crime victimization. The results also showed that juvenile delinquency positively predicted future crime victimization. Overall, this study demonstrated that authoritative parenting operated as a protective factor against juvenile delinquency and crime victimization.

Keywords: Authoritative parenting; delinquent peer association; mental health; delinquency; crime victimization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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