BACKGROUND: Cultural groups vary in how they understand child maltreatment and children's misbehavior and these cultural variations may impact the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency.
OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the impact of maltreatment on delinquency among South Korean youth. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Using Korean Children and Youth Panel Survey data, this study followed two cohorts of middle (n = 2,275) and high (n = 2,272) school youth for their first self-reported delinquency over 4 years.
METHOD: Discrete-time hazard model was used for the analyses.
RESULTS: Approximately 19% of middle and 11% of high school youth engaged in delinquency for 4 years. Maltreatment is associated with delinquency only for high school youth (HR = 1.42). In both cohorts, male youth with high levels of aggression were more likely to engage in delinquency. Additional risk factors included high levels of depression (HR = 1.36) and negative attitudes toward school rules (HR = 0.68), father's education less than high school (HR = 0.63), low levels of self-control (HR = 0.63).
FINDINGS also identified culturally unique factors that place Korean youth at heightened risk of delinquency: mother's education more than high school (HR = 1.49) and higher family income (HR = 1.93).
CONCLUSION: Preventive interventions need to identify culturally specific risk factors for youth at increased risk of delinquency and thus these preventive interventions should be culturally tailored.