Characterizing Delinquent Behavior in Early Adolescence: Results from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development- Social Development Study

Abstract We examined associations among early delinquent behaviors and key personality traits, psychopathology, and environmental factors among youth enrolled in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development - Social Development (ABCD-SD) study, a substudy of the national ABCD study. Establishing these associations at baseline is an important step for identifying early risk factors for delinquent behavior. The ABCD-SD study includes annual assessments of delinquency, victimization, and personality features for participants from five sites ( N = 2426). We used all data from the ABCD-SD baseline assessment ( M age = 11.7 years, 48% female). Self-reported race was 53% White, 31% Black, 12% multiracial, with 11% self-identified as Hispanic. Thirty-six percent reported their annual household income was under $50,000. Linear regression models were used to examine the association between delinquency and a variety of personality, psychopathology, and environmental risk factors. We also tested associations between each risk factor and Delinquency scores were moderated by sex, race (Black compared to White youth), ethnicity, or household income. We found that delinquency was associated with low empathy and fear, impulsivity, aggression, and other externalizing problems. Delinquency was also associated with antisocial peer affiliation and lack of positive parenting practices and low neighborhood cohesion and school engagement. Nearly all the interactions between key risk factors and sex, race, ethnicity, and household income failed to reach statistical significance. These results provide a comprehensive characterization of associations between delinquency in emerging adolescence and key outcomes across multiple domains in a large, geographically diverse sample.