Gender, Bullying Victimization, Depressive Symptoms, and Suicidality.

Bullying victimization can have serious consequences for adolescents. This article examines the association between traditional and cyberbullying victimization, depressive symptoms, and suicidality in a national school-based sample, utilizing general strain theory (GST) as a guide to how these variables might relate to each other. We additionally examine whether the associations between these variables differ by gender. Results suggest that traditional and cyberbullying victimization have significant, positive associations with both depressive symptoms and suicidality. Results are partly supportive of the full model suggested by GST, with the associations between bullying and suicidality being weakened in some models when accounting for depressive symptoms. Gender differences also emerge. These findings are discussed in relation to their relevance for policy and theory.

Editorial Introduction: Effects of Gun Violence on Communities and Recent Theoretical Developments.

The Journal of Primary Prevention is dedicating this special issue to the topic of gun violence and the detrimental effects it has on communities. The papers represent original research articles providing scientific evidence on the unintended consequences of gun violence and exposure to such violence in neighborhoods and communities. These papers also take seriously the role of theory in our understanding of gun violence. Funding for gun violence research is experiencing a resurgence, and these papers substantively contribute to that narrative.

Longitudinal Risks for Domestic Violence.

Much research has examined the connections between victimization experiences in the family during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. However, research that frames these different victimization experiences across the life course as part of a broader, longitudinal risk for experiencing domestic violence on the part of the individual, particularly within a theoretically driven model, is lacking. The current study uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), a nationally representative sample of American adolescents, to examine how child abuse connects to victimization by dating partners during adolescence and victimization by romantic and marital partners during adulthood, and whether dating victimization mediates the relationship between child abuse and intimate partner victimization in adulthood. Results suggest that this is indeed the case, with child abuse having a direct effect on adolescent dating victimization and a direct and indirect effect on adult intimate partner victimization. Implications of the findings for theory and policy are discussed.

ADHD Symptomatology and Criminal Behavior During Adolescence: Exploring the Mediating Role of School Factors.

Prior research has shown that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) relates to various negative outcomes in adolescence, including academic failure, behavioral problems at school, and criminal behavior. However, this line of research has generally failed to explore whether ADHD connects to criminal behavior through its effects on school factors. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this study finds that a retrospective account of ADHD symptomatology during childhood and early adolescence predicts weakened school attachment, lower grades, and higher risks for both out-of-school suspension and crime. School attachment, grades, and out-of-school suspension have the expected effects on crime among females and males. Among females, these school factors mediate the effects of ADHD symptomatology on crime. The effect of ADHD symptomatology on crime among males remains significant when controlling for school factors. Implications of the findings for policy and theory are discussed.

An Examination of the Importance of Strain in the Cannabis Gateway Effect.

Gateway theory has been the source of much debate in both the research literature and public policy. Support for gateway sequencing has been mixed, especially in research that has considered the role of criminological variables in the etiology of substance use. For example, limited prior research has observed as important in gateway sequencing the effects of severe stressors. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health are utilized to test gateway theory and examine whether severe stressors affect the relationship between frequency of cannabis use and later use of other illicit drugs (OIDs). Findings suggest that while frequency of cannabis use does increase the likelihood of later use of OIDs, this relationship may be the result of the common cause of experiencing severe stress. Implications of the findings are discussed.

Genes, Parenting, Self-Control, and Criminal Behavior.

Self-control has been found to predict a wide variety of criminal behaviors. In addition, studies have consistently shown that parenting is an important influence on both self-control and offending. However, few studies have examined the role that biological factors may play in moderating the relationship between parenting, self-control, and offending. Using a sample of adolescent males drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 3,610), we explore whether variants of the monoamine oxidase A gene (MAOA) and the dopamine transporter (DAT1) gene interact with parenting to affect self-control and offending. Results reveal that parenting interacts with these genes to influence self-control and offending, and that the parenting-by-gene interaction effect on offending is mediated by self-control. The effects of parenting on self-control and offending are most pronounced for those who carry plasticity alleles for both MAOA and DAT1. Thus, MAOA and DAT1 may be implicated in offending because they increase the negative effects of parenting on self-control. Implications for theory are discussed.

Childhood abuse and criminal behavior: testing a general strain theory model.

This article draws on general strain theory (GST) to develop and test a model of the childhood abuse-crime relationship. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health),(1) we find that early childhood physical and sexual abuse are robust predictors of offending in adolescence, for the full sample and in equations disaggregated by gender. GST is partially supported in that the effects of childhood physical abuse on offending for both females and males are mediated by an index of depression symptoms, whereas the effect of sexual abuse among females appears to be mediated largely by closeness to mother. The effect of childhood sexual abuse among males, however, is more robust than among females and it persists despite controls for low self-control, ties to delinquent peers, school attachment, and closeness to mother. Theoretical implications of the findings are discussed.