Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gvvz8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T20:34:12.950Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Adolescent Drinking and Delinquent Activities: Associations and Gender Differences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 September 2015

Angela L. Curcio  and
Anita S. Mak
Angela L. Curcio*
Affiliation:
University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Anita S. Mak
Affiliation:
University of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
*
address for correspondence: Angela Curcio, Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra ACT 2617, Australia. Email: u3011540@uni.canberra.edu.au
Get access

Abstract

A thorough understanding of adolescent drinking and delinquent behaviour is required in order to implement early prevention and intervention programs in schools. Broadly based on the common cause model of adolescent deviance, this study investigated and compared, across genders, the prevalence and inter-relationships of various indicators of adolescent drinking and delinquency. Participants were 312 secondary school students (aged 13–17, 57.7% male) in Canberra, Australia, who completed an anonymous survey comprising the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test and the Australian Self-Reported Delinquency Scale — Revised. We found very few gender differences in drinking and delinquency patterns, and noted medium-to-strong associations among various dimensions of adolescent drinking and delinquent activities. Resulting implications for school prevention programs are considered.

Keywords

problem drinkingdelinquencyschool studentspreventiongender
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools , Volume 26 , Issue 1 , June 2016 , pp. 100 - 114
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Australian Institute of Criminology. (2011). Australian crime: Facts & figures, 2010. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Barnes, G.M., Welte, J.W., & Hoffman, J.H. (2002). Relationship of alcohol use to delinquency and illicit drug use in adolescents: Gender, age and racial/ethnic differences. Journal of Drug Use, 32, 153–178. doi:10.1177/002204260203200107.Google Scholar
Carrington, K. (2013). Girls and violence: The case for a feminist theory of female violence. International Journal for Crime, Justice, and Social Democracy, 2, 63–79.Google Scholar
Clarke, N., Kim, S.Y., White, H.R., Jiao, Y., & Mun, E.Y. (2013). Associations between alcohol use and alcohol-related negative consequences among black and white men and women. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 74, 521–531.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioural sciences (2nd ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Conigrave, K.M., Hall, W., & Saunders, J.B. (1995). The AUDIT questionnaire: Choosing a cut-off score. Addiction, 90, 1349–1356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Conigrave, K.M., Saunders, J.B., & Reznik, R.B. (1995). Predictive capacity of the AUDIT questionnaire for alcohol-related harm. Addiction, 90, 1479–1485.Google Scholar
Curcio, A.L., Mak, A.S., & George, A.M. (2013). Do adolescent delinquency and problem drinking share psychosocial risk factors? A literature review. Addictive Behaviours, 38, 2003–2013. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2012.12.004Google Scholar
Curcio, A.L., Mak, A.S., & Knott, V.E. (2015). The Australian Self-Report Delinquency Scale: A revision. Australian Journal of Psychology, 67, 1–11. doi:10.1111/ajpy.12075CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felson, R., Savolainen, J., Aaltonen, M., & Moustgaard, H. (2008). Is the association between alcohol use and delinquency causal or spurious? Criminology, 46, 785–808.Google Scholar
Franklin, R.D., Allison, D.B., & Sutton, T. (1992). Alcohol, substance abuse, and violence among North Carolina prison admissions, 1988. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 7, 101–111.Google Scholar
Greenfield, L.A., & Henneberg, M.A. (2001). Victim and offender self-reports of alcohol involvement in crime. Alcohol Research & Health, 25, 20–31.Google Scholar
Griffin, B., & Griffin, C. (1978). Juvenile delinquency in perspective. New York, NY: Harper and Row.Google Scholar
Grimm, P. (2010). Social desirability bias. Wiley International Encyclopedia of Marketing, 2. doi.10.1002/9781444316568.wiem02057Google Scholar
Hasking, P.A., Scheier, L.M., & Abdallah, A.B. (2011). Latent class analysis of adolescent delinquency: Relations to putative risk factors. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 19–35.Google Scholar
Helstrom, A., Bryan, A., Hutchison, K.E., Riggs, P.D., & Blechman, E.A. (2004). Tobacco and alcohol use as an explanation for the association between externalizing behaviours and illicit drug use among delinquent adolescents. Prevention Science, 5, 267–277.Google Scholar
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S.L. (1977). Problem behaviour and psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic.Google Scholar
Kenny, D.T., & Schreiner, I. (2009). Predictors of high risk alcohol consumption in young offenders on community orders. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 15, 54–79. doi:10.1037/a0015079Google Scholar
Keyes, K.M., Li, G., & Hasin, D.S. (2011). Birth cohort effects and gender differences in alcohol epidemiology: A review and synthesis. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 35, 2101–2112. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2011.01562.xCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Landsford, J.E., Skinner, A.T., Sorbing, E., Di Giunta, L., Deater-Deckard, K., Dodge, K.A., . . . Chang, L. (2012). Boys’ and girls’ relational and physical aggression in nine countries. Aggressive Behavior, 38, 298–308.Google Scholar
Madu, S.N., & Matla, M.Q. (2003). Illicit drug use, cigarette smoking, and alcohol drinking behaviour among a sample of high school adolescents in the Pietersburg area of the Northern Province, South Africa. Journal of Adolescence, 26, 121–136.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mak, A. (1993). A self-reported delinquency scale for Australian adolescents. Australian Journal of Psychology, 45, 75–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meneses-Gaya, C., Zuardi, A.W., Loureiro, S.R., & Crippa, J.A.S. (2009). Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): An updated systematic review of psychometric properties. Psychology and Neuroscience, 2, 83–97. doi:10.3922/j.psns.2009.1.12Google Scholar
National Institute of Health. (2007). Alcohol survey reveals ‘lost decade’ between ages of disorder onset and treatment. National Institute of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.Google Scholar
Omaji, P.O. (1992, September). Schools and juvenile crime prevention. Paper presented at National Conference on Juvenile Justice, Adelaide, Australia. Retrieved from aic.gov.auGoogle Scholar
Orr, D.B. (1995). Fundamentals of applied statistics and surveys. New York, NY: Chapman and Hall.Google Scholar
Paulhus, D.L. (1991). Measurement and control of response bias. In Robinson, J.P., Shaver, P.R., & Wrightsman, L.S. (Eds.), Measures of personality and social psychological attitudes (pp. 17–59). San Diego: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Potas, I., Vining, A., & Wilson, P. (1990). Young people and crime: Costs and prevention. Canberra, Australia: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar
Reinert, D.F., & Allen, J.P. (2007). The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test: An update of research findings. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 31, 185–199. doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.2006.00295.xGoogle Scholar
Santis, R., Garmendia, M.R., Acuña, G., Alvarado, M.E., & Arteaga, O. (2009). The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT) as a screening measure for adolescents. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 103, 155–158. doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2009.01.017Google Scholar
Saunders, J.B., Aasland, O.G., Babor, T.F., de la Fuente, J.R., & Grant, M. (1993). Development of the alcohol use disorders identification test (AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of personal with harmful alcohol consumption: II. Addiction, 88, 791–804. doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.1993.tb02093.xGoogle Scholar
Selin, K.H. (2006). Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test (AUDIT): What does it screen? Performance of the AUDIT against four different criteria in a Swedish population sample. Substance Use and Misuse, 41, 1881–1899. doi:10.1080/10826080601025532CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sibley, M.H., Pelham, W.E., Molina, B.S.G., Waschbusch, D.A., Gnagy, E.M., Babinski, D.E., & Biswas, A. (2010). Inconsistent self-report of delinquency by adolescents and young adults with ADHD. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 38, 645–656. doi:10.1007/s10802-010-9409-3.Google Scholar
Zagar, R.J., Busch, K.G., & Hughes, J.R. (2009). Empirical risk factors for delinquency and best treatments: Where do we go from here? Psychological Reports, 104, 279–308.Google Scholar