Citation

Xiong R, Li S, Xia Y. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020; 17(4): e1405.

Affiliation

School of Law, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph17041405

PMID

32098155

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.

Language: en

Keywords

Authoritative parenting; crime victimization; delinquency; delinquent peer association; mental health