Gender Differences in Violent Offending in Childhood and Early Adolescence: The Mediating Roles of Dual Systems Imbalance and Parental Monitoring

Abstract

The gender gap in offending is a robust finding, and this gap extends to violent offending. However, there is limited research that has explored mechanisms explaining this relationship in childhood and early adolescence. This is concerning because early onset of antisocial behavior like this may increase the risk for chronic engagement in such behavior. Cognitive development and parental monitoring both differ by gender, also indicating that these may present mediating mechanisms explaining the gender gap in violent offending during this period of the life-course. Cognitive development pertaining to the dual systems model was examined here, that is, the difference in the concurrent development of impulse control and sensation-seeking, or dual systems imbalance. The present study addresses this gap in the literature by examining the dual systems model imbalance and parental monitoring as mediators of the gender-violent offending relationship. The Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development-Social Development data were analyzed. This consists of a sample of 2,422 youth aged 9 to 10 years old at baseline (Boys = 52.31%; Girls = 47.69%). Generalized structural equation modeling was used to test for direct and indirect relationships of interest. Findings indicated that boys reported a greater risk for violent offending than girls. Dual systems imbalance significantly mediated this relationship, but parental monitoring did not. These results highlight the importance of fostering healthy cognitive development among young boys to prevent violent offending.