The Role of Adolescent Friends, Romantic Partners, and Siblings in the Emergence of the Adult Antisocial Lifestyle

This study investigated the contribution of social processes in boys' adolescent relationships in 3 key domains - same-sex friends, cross-sex romantic partners, and younger siblings - to continued association with delinquent peers in young adulthood and, therefore, to continuance of an antisocial lifestyle. It was hypothesized that levels of negative interaction and antisocial talk observed during problem-solving discussions would be associated across the 3 domains. The influences of negative interactions and antisocial talk in the adolescent relationships on young-adult delinquent peer association were compared in 2 mediational models. It was posited that antisocial talk would be more predictive of continued association with delinquent peers than would negative interactions. Hypotheses were tested on an at-risk sample of young men (the Oregon Youth Study). Findings were generally in keeping with the hypotheses.