This longitudinal research was designed to study protective factors in a group of
boys at risk with extreme scores of aggressiveness-hyperactivity-distractibility in
kindergarten. We attempted to identify schoolrelated protective factors in the
elementary school against the occurrence of delinquent acts at age 12. Previous
studies had shown that teacher's and mother's teaching style, pupils' involvement in
the classroom activities, and popularity in the peer group were factors with good
protective potential, but the concurrent contribution to protection of all four
factors in the same study has never been verified. Fifty-three boys were observed at
age 8-9 and at age 10-11 during regular classroom activities. In addition,
observations were carried out, subject by subject, on three pupils from the same
class for control purposes and on the class teacher. Each boy was also observed
during problem-solving tasks in the laboratory with his mother. Peer assessments of
the boys' popularity in the peer group were available at age 8-9 and age 10-11 for
48 of the boys. Self-reported delinquency at age 12 was used as the outcome
variable. A unique contribution to the protection against juvenile delinquency was
found only for the teachers' interaction style. Improvement in the protective
ability was a function of the cumulative effect of two years of expos re to a
well-balanced interaction style. Evaluation of the combined effect of multiple
protective factors showed that boys with at least three protective factors engaged
less in delinquent acts than those with one or less protective factor.
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