Rule-Violating Behavior Rule-Violating Behavior General Strain and Depression in Predicting Juvenile Rule Violating Behaviors and the Mediating Effects of Police Legitimacy and Stressful Life Events Tessa Smith & Chad Roberge Advisors: Ellen S. Cohn, Ph.D. & Alexander Blandina, M.A. Introduction Hypotheses Discussion General Strain Theory (GST)1,5,9 argues perceptions of injustice leads to Rule Violating Behavior (RVB) Depression7,9 is positively correlated with RVB Relationship strain - Variable scale generated to assess GST Depression symptomatology is identified by overall negative emotions3 Rule violating behaviors (RVB) - Any antisocial behavior including delinquent acts However, potential variables may mediate both correlated relations towards RVB Police legitimacy - positive or negative perception of law enforcement and its right to exercise authority over them Depression predicts negative evaluations of surrounding environments (i.e., police interactions, others’ intentions, etc.)3 GST focuses on adolescents’ perception of parents, teachers, and peers1 Perceptions of police not considered Positive attitudes towards law enforcement correlate negatively with RVB6 Stressful Life Events GST theorizes a positive relation with Stressful Life Events1 Stressful life events increase the likelihood that an adolescent will engage in RVB2,4 Increased depression relates to increased stress sensitivity8 The first hypothesis that police legitimacy and stressful life events would mediate the relation between Relationship Strain and RVB was supported. Police legitimacy and life stressors fully mediate between Relationship Strain and RVB The second hypothesis that police legitimacy and stressful life events would mediate the relation between depression and RVB was supported Police legitimacy and life stressors fully mediate between depression and RVB Implications While previous studies found a link between GST and RVB1,5,9, more specific elements within the general term of strain mediate this relation To properly identify youth committing RVB and to explain cause, such factors need to be identified and explored Law enforcement should seek to form good relationships with their community, and increase police legitimacy Police should consider the publics’ perception of them, as well as emotional disorders, when interacting with youth Limitations and Future Directions Data collected was from only one wave in the NHYS (New Hampshire Youth Survey) which limits the quantity of data Data should be collected from multiple waves of the same participants to identify patterns over time Data was cross-sectional; it would be important to replicate this with longitudinal data Other mental disorders were not examined Other mental disorders should be compared to general strain to see if they have similar results Only one variable used to measure GST, others should be used in future research Hypothesis 1: The relationship between relationship strain and rule violating behaviors will be mediated by police legitimacy and stressful life events. Hypothesis 2: The relationship between depression and rule violating behaviors will be mediated by police legitimacy and stressful life events. Results Standardized Beta Coefficients Relationship Strain Police Legitimacy Life Stressors Rule-Violating Behavior -.26*** -.24*** .34*** .41*** .08 (.28***) Method Participants 501 participants (42.9% male, 57.1% female) 74.9% Caucasian , 4.8% Hispanic M age= 13.9 Subjects gathered as part of an ongoing longitudinal study examining different factors believed to influence adolescent delinquency Measures Relationship Strain (M= 1.83, SD= .84) “People often break their promises to me.” (6 point Likert scale, 0= Disagree strongly, 4= Agree strongly) Depression (M= 1.09, SD=.43) CES-D scale. “In the past 30 days… I felt sad.” (6 point Likert scale, 0= Not at all, 4= Almost all the time) Inter-rater reliability: r= .597, p < .001 10 Police Legitimacy (M= 2.81, SD= .44) “The police in your neighborhood are generally honest.” (6 point Likert scale, 0= Disagree strongly, 4= Agree strongly) Stressful Life Events (M=.19, SD= .13) “In the past 6 months… did you drop out of school?” (Yes or no) RVB (M= 2.99, SD= 3.72) “In the past six months have you…gotten drunk?” Procedure Data gathered by mass survey sessions in 8 middle and 5 high schools in 4 NH communities Participants given $10 gift card as compensation R² = .30, F(3, 501)=70.30, p >.001 Depression Police Legitimacy Life Stressors Rule-Violating Behavior -.12** .47*** -.25*** .40*** .08 (.29***) References 1 Agnew, R. 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Journal of Criminal Justice, 37(4), 379-387. d oi:http://dx.doi.org.libproxy.unh.edu/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2009.06.005 6 Levy, K. S. C. (2001). The relationship between adolescent attitudes toward authority, self-concept, and delinquency. Adolescence, 36(142), 333-346. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=psyh&AN=2001-18837- 012&site=ehost-live 7 Lincoln, T., Köther, U., Hartmann, M., Kempkensteffen, J., & Moritz, S. (2014). Responses to stress in patients with psychotic disorders compared to persons with varying levels of vulnerability to psychosis, persons with depression and healthy controls. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 47, 92-101. 8 Mallett, C. A., Stoddard Dare, P., & Seck, M. M. (2009). Predicting juvenile delinquency: The nexus of childhood maltreatment, depression and bipolar disorder. Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 19(4), 235-246. doi:10.1002/cbm.737 9 Peck, J. H. (2013). Examining race and ethnicity in the context of general strain theory, depression, and delinquency. Deviant Behavior, 34(9), 706-726. doi:10.1080/01639625.2012.759050 10 Radloff, L. (1977). "The CES-D Scale: A Self Report Depression Scale for Research in the General." Applied psychological measurement 1(3): 385-401. *p ≤ .05 **p ≤ .01 *** p ≤ .001 R² = .30, F(3, 497)=69.41, p >.001 For more information: trg39@wildcats.unh.edu and ctd34@wildcats.unh.edu