Pathways from Neighborhood Factors to Adult Criminality: Intervening Roles of Neighborhood Disorder, Juvenile Delinquency, And Violence Exposure

= 663). We tested indirect pathways through adolescent delinquency, exposure to neighborhood violence, and perceived neighborhood disorder. Neither neighborhood disadvantage nor collective efficacy directly predicted adult violent or non-violent criminal behaviors. Results indicated that neighborhood disadvantage was associated with higher adolescent exposure to neighborhood violence and greater perceptions of neighborhood disorder, but not with adolescent delinquency. However, an indirect effect emerged, with neighborhood disadvantage related to a lower likelihood of non-violent criminal behavior via greater perceived neighborhood disorder. Adolescent delinquency robustly predicted both violent and non-violent criminal behaviors in adulthood. No significant interactive effects between neighborhood disadvantage and collective efficacy were observed. Findings underscore the complexity of neighborhood influences on crime development and suggest that adolescents' perceptions of their environments may serve as one potential mechanism linking structural disadvantage to certain long-term behavioral outcomes. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40865-026-00304-0.