TY - JOUR
T1 - Predicting early adolescent gang involvement from middle school adaptation
AU - Dishion, Thomas J.
AU - Nelson, Sarah E.
AU - Yasui, Miwa
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by Grants DA07031, DA13773, and DA16110 to Thomas J. Dishion from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health. We are deeply grateful for the hard work of the Project Alliance staff, study families, and participating schools, without whom this study would not be possible. Thanks to Ann Simas for editing and graphic preparation on this article. Requests for reprints should be sent to Thomas J. Dishion, Child and Family Center, University of Oregon, 195 West 12th Avenue, Eugene, OR 97401–3408. E-mail: tomd@uoregon.edu
PY - 2005
Y1 - 2005
N2 - This study examined the role of adaptation in the first year of middle school (Grade 6, age 11) to affiliation with gangs by the last year of middle school (Grade 8, age 13). The sample consisted of 714 European American (EA) and African American (AA) boys and girls. Specifically, academic grades, reports of antisocial behavior, and peer relations in 6th grade were used to predict multiple measures of gang involvement by 8th grade. The multiple measures of gang involvement included self-, peer, teacher, and counselor reports. Unexpectedly, self-report measures of gang involvement did not correlate highly with peer and school staff reports. The results, however, were similar for other and self-report measures of gang involvement. Mean level analyses revealed statistically reliable differences in 8th-grade gang involvement as a function of the youth gender and ethnicity. Structural equation prediction models revealed that peer nominations of rejection, acceptance, academic failure, and antisocial behavior were predictive of gang involvement for most youth. These findings suggest that the youth level of problem behavior and the school ecology (e.g., peer rejection, school failure) require attention in the design of interventions to prevent the formation of gangs among high-risk young adolescents.
AB - This study examined the role of adaptation in the first year of middle school (Grade 6, age 11) to affiliation with gangs by the last year of middle school (Grade 8, age 13). The sample consisted of 714 European American (EA) and African American (AA) boys and girls. Specifically, academic grades, reports of antisocial behavior, and peer relations in 6th grade were used to predict multiple measures of gang involvement by 8th grade. The multiple measures of gang involvement included self-, peer, teacher, and counselor reports. Unexpectedly, self-report measures of gang involvement did not correlate highly with peer and school staff reports. The results, however, were similar for other and self-report measures of gang involvement. Mean level analyses revealed statistically reliable differences in 8th-grade gang involvement as a function of the youth gender and ethnicity. Structural equation prediction models revealed that peer nominations of rejection, acceptance, academic failure, and antisocial behavior were predictive of gang involvement for most youth. These findings suggest that the youth level of problem behavior and the school ecology (e.g., peer rejection, school failure) require attention in the design of interventions to prevent the formation of gangs among high-risk young adolescents.
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U2 - 10.1207/s15374424jccp3401_6
DO - 10.1207/s15374424jccp3401_6
M3 - Article
C2 - 15677281
AN - SCOPUS:13944264373
SN - 1537-4416
VL - 34
SP - 62
EP - 73
JO - Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
JF - Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology
IS - 1
ER -