To help explain these patterns, we examined the links between 34 different risk and protective factors and the children’s involvement in crime or delinquency at age 12–13. Rather than examining each type of behaviour separately, we created a single indicator of involvement in crime or delinquency for each child based on whether he or she had committed any of the 13 violent crime or property offences at least once in the year preceding the interview. This method of measuring involvement in crime or delinquency is consistent with convention and reflects the tendency for offenders to engage in a variety of delinquent acts as opposed to “specialising” in particular types of antisocial behaviour (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990).
We excluded the status offences and the measures of official reactions to children’s behaviour (e.g., being suspended or expelled) because they are likely to reflect much more than a child’s propensity for problem behaviours. For example, being suspended or expelled may depend on the school disciplinary environment as much as it depends on the behaviour of the child involved.
The aim of this analysis is to identify factors that affect the chances of children engaging in early- onset crime or delinquency and to pinpoint the children who are most likely to engage in crime or delinquency in early adolescence, based on their earlier life circumstances and patterns of behaviour. We investigated links between crime or delinquency, and compiled a comprehensive list of risk and protective factors implicated in numerous studies conducted over the last 30 years (e.g., Farrington & West, 1993; Loeber & Dishion, 1983; Loeber & Farrington, 2000; Patterson, Forgatch, Yoerger, & Stoolmiller, 1998; Tremblay, Pihl, Vitaro, & Dobkin, 1994). These cover a range of broad categories, including:
■ child demographic characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity);
■ parental characteristics (e.g., mother’s age, maternal psychological problems); ■ family and household characteristics (e.g., socio-economic position of family); ■ pregnancy and birth complications (e.g., mother smoked during pregnancy);
■ child psychosocial characteristics (e.g., difficulty temperament, early disruptive behaviour); and ■ parenting styles (e.g., harsh parenting, absence of parental warmth).
Details of the 34 variables, and how they were measured, are provided in Table 7.1.
Table 7.1: Risk and protective factors for children engaging in crime or delinquency at 4–5 years and 10–11 years
Variable Categories a Description
Age of child
Child demographic characteristics Child gender 1 = male
2 = female (ref.) 4–5 years
Child Indigenous status
0 = non-Indigenous (ref.)
1 = Indigenous Is study child of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin? 4–5 years Child language
spoken at home
0 = English 1 = non-English
Does study child speak a language other than English at home?
4–5 years
Parental characteristics
Maternal age 1 = younger (bottom 33%) (ref.)
2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = older (top 33%)
Age of mother at time of interview. 4–5 years
10–11 years Parental
education
0 = below Bachelor degree 1 = Bachelor degree or higher (ref.)
Highest level of parental education (both Parent 1 and Parent 2).
4–5 years 10–11 years Family type 0 = two parents (ref.)
1 = single parent Based on Parent 2’s presence in the LSAC household at Wave 1 and Wave 4. 4–5 years 10–11 years continued on page 137
continued on page 138
Table 7.1: Risk and protective factors for children engaging in crime or delinquency at 4–5 years and 10–11 years
Variable Categories a Description
Age of child Maternal psychological distress 1 = low (0–7) (ref.) 2 = moderate (8–12) 3 = high (13–24)
Kessler 6 (K6) scale, a six-item scale measuring psychological distress (e.g., “In the past 4 weeks about how often did you feel so sad that nothing could cheer you up?”). Scores rescaled from 0–24 (Hilton, Scuffham, Sheridan, Cleary, & Whiteford, 2008) and respondents classified as lower, moderate or higher. Higher indicates a mental disorder is very likely. 4–5 years 10–11 years Maternal problem alcohol consumption 0 = no (ref.)
1 = yes Single item. Whether Parent 1 had engaged in problematic alcohol use, defined as heavy daily alcohol consumption (> 2 standard drinks for women) or frequent binge drinking (5+ standard drinks in a sitting for women).
4–5 years 10–11 years Family and household characteristics
No. of siblings 0 = none (ref.) 1 = one 2 = two 3 = three or more
Number of siblings of the study child in household. 4–5 years 10–11 years Family socio- economic position 1 = lowest 25% (ref.) 2 = middle 50% 3 = highest 25%
Z-score for socio-economic position among all families. 4–5 years 10–11 years Financial stress 0 = no (ref.)
1 = yes
Whether Parent 1 experienced one or more instances of financial stress in the last 12 months, as indicated by six items (e.g., parent has not been able to pay gas, electricity or telephone bills on time due to a shortage of money).
4–5 years 10–11 years Unemployed 0 = no (ref.)
1 = yes
Whether both parents were unemployed (in two-parent families) or Parent 1 unemployed (in sole-parent families).
4–5 years 10–11 years Neighbour hood
disadvantage 1 = lower (bottom 33%) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%) (ref.)
Defined according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), which includes the Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage (SIRD).
4–5 years 10–11 years Region of
residence 0 = urban (ref.) 1 = rural Using the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS; Edition 2011: Section of State), defined as urban (major and other urban areas with population > 1,000) or regional (bounded locality and rural balance).
4–5 years 10–11 years Legal problems 0 = no (ref.)
1 = yes Whether Parent 1 or Parent 2 had problems with the police or had a court appearance in the last 12 months. 4–5 years 10–11 years Parental injury
or assault
0 = no (ref.) 1 = yes
Whether Parent 1 or Parent 2 had suffered a serious illness, injury or assault in the last 12 months.
4–5 years 10–11 years Pregnancy and birth complications
Used alcohol during pregnancy 1 = no (ref.) 2 = occasionally 3 = most days
Whether mother consumed alcohol during the pregnancy. 4–5 years
Smoked during
pregnancy 1 = no (ref.) 2 = occasionally 3 = most days
Whether mother smoked cigarettes during pregnancy. 4–5 years
High blood pressure in pregnancy
0 = no (ref.)
1 = yes Whether mother had high blood pressure during pregnancy, requiring admission to hospital or medication. 4–5 years Postnatal
depression 0 = no (ref.) 1 = yes Whether mother suffered from postnatal depression after the birth of the child. 4–5 years Birth weight of
study child 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Birth weight percentile based on US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts. 4–5 years continued from page 136
continued from page 137
Table 7.1: Risk and protective factors for children engaging in crime or delinquency at 4–5 years and 10–11 years
Variable Categories a Description
Age of child
Child psychosocial characteristics Intelligence 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.)
2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC-IV). Standardised score based on number of correct items and provided norms. 4–5 years 10–11 years Temper- ament— Reactivity
1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Short Temperament Scale for Children (STSC) Reactive subscale. Average of four items (e.g., when angry, child yells or snaps at others). 4–5 years 10–11 years Temper- ament— Persistence
1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
STSC Persistence subscale. Average of four items (e.g., child likes to complete one task or activity before going onto the next). 4–5 years 10–11 years Temper- ament— Sociability
1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
STSC Sociability subscale. Average of four items (e.g., child is outgoing with adult strangers outside the home). Scores of the first two items were reverse scored. High scores indicate high levels of sociability temperament.
4–5 years 10–11 years Attention
problems 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = high (top 33%)
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) Hyperactivity subscale. Average of five items (e.g., child easily distracted, concentration wanders).
4–5 years 10–11 years Conduct
problems 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Abridged SDQ Conduct Problems subscale. Average of three items (e.g., child often fights with other children or bullies them).
4–5 years 10–11 years Emotional
problems 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
SDQ Emotional Problems subscale. Average of five items (e.g.,
child is often unhappy, downhearted or tearful). 4–5 years 10–11 years Prosocial
orientation 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
SDQ Prosocial subscale. Average of five items (e.g., child is
considerate of other people’s feelings). 4–5 years 10–11 years Peer problems 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.)
2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
SDQ Peer Problems subscale. Average of five items (e.g., picked on or bullied by other children)
4–5 years 10–11 years Responsive - ness to punishment b
1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Average of the last three items of the Consistent Parenting Scale: “How often is this child able to get out of a punishment when he/she really sets his/her mind to it?”, “How often does this child get away with things that you feel should have been punished?”; and “When you discipline this child, how often does he/she ignore the punishment?”.
4–5 years 10–11 years
Parenting styles Harsh
parenting 1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Average of four items of the Angry Parenting Scale (e.g., “How
often are you angry when you punish this child?”). 4–5 years 10–11 years Parental
warmth
1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Average of six items (e.g., “How often do you express affection by hugging, kissing and holding this child?”)
4–5 years 10–11 years Consist ent
parenting b
1 = lower (bottom 33%) (ref.) 2 = medium (middle 33%) 3 = higher (top 33%)
Average of the first two items of the Consistent Parenting Scale: “When you give this child an instruction or make a request to do something, how often do you make sure that he/she does it?”; and “If you tell this child he/she will get punished if he/she doesn’t stop doing something, but he/she keeps doing it, how often will you punish him/her?”.
4–5 years 10–11 years
Notes: a Those variables that are categorised into three groups (lower, medium, higher) are divided based on percentile scores, with
the bottom third classified as lower, the middle third as medium, and the top third as higher. Allocations to each subgroup are therefore relative to each other rather than being absolute measures.
b The Consistent Parenting scale originally consisted of five items. For the purpose of this chapter, we treated the last three
items of this scale as an independent measure of “responsiveness to punishment”. Factor analyses were conducted for these two measures at each wave. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients indicated high internal consistencies for both measures (e.g., alpha was 0.89 for consistent parenting and 0.92 for responsiveness to punishment at Wave 1).
Although differences between early-onset offenders and other children can emerge in early childhood, long before they commit their first criminal or delinquent offences, the factors that show the strongest association with such behaviours are likely to be those measured around the time the offences occurred.
To help determine how early in the life course we could identify children who were at risk of crime or delinquency, we sought to measure each risk and protective factor based on information collected at two points in time: first, when the children were 4–5 years of age (Wave 1); and second, at 10–11 years (Wave 4).2 We focused on 4–5 years because that was the earliest possible point at which information on children in the K cohort could be collected. By contrast, we selected 10–11 years because that was the age of the children at the time of the last survey conducted before the measurement of criminal and delinquent behaviour at 12–13 years (Wave 5). As a result, all risk and protective factors were observed prior to the measurement of the children’s involvement in crime or delinquency.
We estimated the differences between the percentage of children engaged in crime or delinquency by each risk and protective factor in a series of logistic regressions,3 and we report these results as “unadjusted differences” in the tables following. We then included all 35 risk and protective factors in a statistical model that adjusted for all factors simultaneously in one logistic regression model. The results of these analyses, which we refer to as “adjusted differences”, are reported alongside the unadjusted differences. They indicate differences in the percentages of children engaging in criminal or delinquent acts after accounting for other factors. Thus, the unadjusted differences tell us whether the percentage of children engaging in crime or delinquency is higher for some groups than others (e.g., higher for boys than girls), while the adjusted estimates indicate whether that difference is independent of other factors and hence attributable to the factor in question.