Temporal Order and Developmental Context of Aggressive Attitude and Aggressive Behavior: Testing a Within-Person Reciprocal Effects Model.

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine whether the relationship between aggressive attitude and aggressive behavior is reciprocal or bidirectional in nature.

Method: A sample of 845 early adolescent youth (406 boys, 439 girls) between the ages of 10 and 13 (mean = 11.21) served as participants in this study.

In search of the origins of crime continuity: Aggressive versus nonaggressive delinquency as a key factor in the psychological inertia process.

The purpose of this study was to test whether the psychological inertia process believed to give rise to crime continuity is limited to aggressive delinquency or evolves from both aggressive and nonaggressive delinquency. Self-report data provided by 845 early adolescent youth (406 boys, 439 girls) were analyzed in an effort to test the hypothesis that aggressive rather than nonaggressive delinquency precipitates a rise in delinquency through the intervening influence of cognitive impulsivity but not moral neutralization. The hypothesis stated that of the four models evaluated in this study (aggressive delinquency → moral neutralization → offense variety; aggressive delinquency → cognitive impulsivity → offense variety; nonaggressive delinquency → moral neutralization → offense variety; nonaggressive delinquency → cognitive impulsivity → offense variety), only the aggressive delinquency → cognitive impulsivity → offense variety model would achieve significance.

Family structure and delinquency: Antisocial cognition as a mediating mechanism.

Introduction: This study investigates the direct and indirect effects of family structure on future delinquency using cognitive insensitivity and cognitive impulsivity as mediators.

Methods: Employing a sample of 845 middle school students (406 boys, 439 girls), this study examined the effects of family structure on future delinquency and antisocial cognition as students progressed through the middle school years-that is, sixth through eighth grade.

Results: Family structure, assessed as a three-level variable (two-parent home vs.

Social and psychological effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on middle-school students: Attendance options and changes over time.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether restrictions put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic affected the social and psychological well-being of early adolescent schoolchildren. Participants were 309 youth (51% female, average age = 12.38 years) enrolled in the sixth, seventh, or eighth grades of a single middle school located in northeastern Pennsylvania, a state that took a moderately proactive approach to the pandemic.

Moderating the bullying perpetration-delinquency relationship with parental support and knowledge: A prospective analysis of middle school students.

The purpose of this study was to ascertain whether parental support and knowledge moderate the relationship between bullying perpetration and delinquency. A sample of 305 middle school students (141 boys, 164 girls; 10-12 years of age) served as participants in this study. The research hypothesis predicted that parental support and knowledge would moderate the prospective bullying-delinquency relationship.

Identifying Desistance Pathways in a Higher Education Program for Formerly Incarcerated Individuals.

The link between education and crime is a topic that requires special attention with respect to the converging influence of individual, social, and environmental factors. This article will investigate the educational pathways followed by students in a higher education program for formerly incarcerated individuals at a large state university in the northeastern United States. Specifically, it will explore the extent to which their postincarceration educational experiences served as a "hook for change" and also related impediments tied to street influences, financial constraints, stigma, academic and social development.