This study examines the stability of and change in self-control during adolescence and investigates the reciprocal relationship of self-control and parental social control. German three-wave panel data with two age cohorts (11–13 and 15–17 years, total N = 1423) are analyzed. Latent growth curve and path models are applied to investigate developmental trajectories. Findings suggest (a) no evidence for the relative stability of self-control, (b) parental controls do matter after the formative years, and (c) low self-control influences the perception of parental controls in early adolescence. In sum, results support a dynamic perspective with reciprocal influences of self-control and social control.
ArneklevBJCochranJKGaineyRR (1998) Testing Gottfredson and Hirsch’s ‘low self-control’ stability hypothesis: An exploratory study. American Journal of Criminal Justice23: 107–127.
2.
BaumeisterRFGailliotMDe WallCNOatenM (2006) Self-regulation and personality: How interventions increase regulatory success, and how depletion moderates the effects of traits on behavior. Journal of Personality74: 1773–1801.
3.
BaumrindD (1996) Parenting: The discipline controversy revisited. Family Relations45: 405–414.
4.
BrownTA (2006) Confirmatory Factor Analysis for Applied Research. New York: Guilford Press.
5.
BurtCHSimonsRLSimonsLG (2006) A longitudinal test of the effects of parenting and the stability of self-control: Negative evidence for the general theory of crime. Criminology44: 353–396.
6.
ChanD (1998) The conceptualization and analysis of change over time: An integrative approach incorporating longitudinal mean and covariance structures analysis (LMACS) and multiple indicator latent growth modeling (MLGM). Organizational Research Methods1: 421–483.
7.
ChenFF (2007) Sensitivity of goodness of fit indexes to lack of measurement invariance. Structural Equation Modeling14: 464–504.
8.
De KempRATVermulstAAFinkenauerCet al. (2009) Self-control and early adolescent antisocial behavior: A longitudinal analysis. Journal of Early Adolescence29: 497–517.
9.
DiamondBMorrisRGPiqueroAR (2017) Stability in the underlying constructs of self-control. Crime and Delinquency63: 235–266.
10.
DuckworthALSteinbergL (2015) Unpacking self-control. Child Development Perspectives9: 32–37.
11.
DuncanTEDuncanSCStryckerLA (2006) An Introduction to Latent Variable Growth Curve Modeling: Concepts, Issues, and Application. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
12.
EiflerSSeipelC (2001) Eine deutsche Version einer Skala zur Erfassung von Self-Control. Bielefelder Arbeiten zur Sozialpsychologie Nr. 199. Universität Bielefeld.
13.
El KayedN (2016) Die Entstehung und Entwicklung devianten und delinquenten Verhaltens im Lebensverlauf und ihre Bedeutung für soziale Ungleichheitsprozesse: Methodendokumentation der Schülerbefragungen in Dortmund und Nürnberg. Drei Wellen Panel. SFB 882 Technical Report Series24. DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities, Bielefeld.
14.
EssauCASasagawaSFrickPJ (2006) Psychometric properties of the Alabama parenting questionnaire. Journal of Child and Family Studies15: 595–614.
15.
FerrerEBalluerkaNWidamanKF (2008) Factorial invariance and the specification of second-order latent growth models. Methodology4: 22–36.
16.
GibsonCLSullivanCJJonesSPiqueroAR (2010) Does it take a village? Assessing neighborhood influences on children’s self-control. Journal of Crime and Delinquency47: 31–62.
17.
GeiserCKellerBTLockhartG (2013) First- versus second-order latent growth curve models: Some insights from latent state-trait theory. Structural Equation Modeling20: 479–503.
18.
GottfredsonM R (2006) The empirical status of control theory in criminology. In: ThornberryTPKrohnMD (eds) Taking Stock: The Status of Criminological Theory. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 77–100.
19.
GottfredsonMRHirschiT (1990) A General Theory of Crime. Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press.
20.
GrasmickHGTittleCRBursikRJArneklevBJ (1993) Testing the core empirical implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s General Theory of Crime. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency30: 5–29.
21.
HancockGRKuoW-LLawrenceFR (2001) An illustration of second-order latent growth models. Structural Equation Modeling, 8: 470–489.
22.
HayC (2001) Parenting, self-control, and delinquency: A test of self-control theory. Criminology39: 707–736.
23.
HayCForrestW (2006) The development of self-control: Examining self-control theory’s stability thesis. Criminology44: 739–774.
24.
HayCMeldrumR (2015) Self-control and Crime over the Life Course. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
25.
HayCMeldrumRForrestWCiaravoloE (2010) Stability and change in risk-seeking: Investigating the effects of an intervention program. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice8: 91–106.
26.
HigginsGEJenningsWGTewksburyRGibsonCL (2009) Exploring the link between low self-control and violent victimization trajectories in adolescents. Criminal Justice and Behavior36: 1070–1084.
27.
HirschiT (1969) Causes of Delinquency. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
28.
HirschiT (2004) Self-control and crime. In: BaumeisterRFVohsKD (eds) Handbook of Self-regulation: Research, Theory, and Application. New York: Guilford Press.
29.
JöreskogKG (1971) Simultaneous factor analysis in several populations. Psychometrika36: 409–426.
30.
LarzelereREPattersonGR (1990) Parental management: Mediator of the effect of socioeconomic status on early delinquency. Criminology28: 301–324.
31.
LittleTD (2013) Longitudinal Structural Equation Modeling. New York: Guilford Press.
32.
LogueAW (1996) Self-control: An alternative self-regulation framework applicable to human and nonhuman behavior. Psychological Inquiry7: 68–72.
33.
MeinertJSünkelZ (2013) Die Entstehung und Entwicklung devianten und delinquenten Verhaltens im Lebensverlauf und ihre Bedeutung für soziale Ungleichheitsprozesse: Methodendokumentation der Schülerbefragungen in Dortmund und Nürnberg. Erste Erhebung 2012. SFB 882 Technical Report Series 1. DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities, Bielefeld.
34.
MeyerMSchepersD (2014) Die Entstehung und Entwicklung devianten und delinquenten Verhaltens im Lebensverlauf und ihre Bedeutung für soziale Ungleichheitsprozesse: Methodendokumentation der Schülerbefragungen in Dortmund und Nürnberg. Zwei-Wellen-Panel. SFB 882 Technical Report Series 08. DFG Research Center (SFB) 882 From Heterogeneities to Inequalities, Bielefeld.
35.
MitchellOMacKenzieDL (2006) The stability and resiliency of self-control in a sample of incarcerated offenders. Crime & Delinquency52: 432–449.
36.
MuravenMBaumeisterRF (2000) Self-regulation and depletion of limited resources: Does self-control resemble a muscle?Psychological Bulletin126: 247–259.
37.
MuthénLKMuthénBO (1998–2015) Mplus. Statistical Analysis with Latent Variables. User’s Guide. Seventh Edition. Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.
38.
NaCPaternosterR (2012) Can self-control change substantially over time? Rethinking the relationship between self- and social control. Criminology50: 427–462.
39.
NaginDPaternosterR (2000) Population heterogeneity and state dependence: State of the evidence and directions for future research. Journal of Quantitative Criminology16: 117–144.
40.
PattersonGR (1980) Children who steal. In: HirschiTGottfredsonMR (eds) Understanding Crime: Current Theory and Research. Beverly Hills: Sage, 411–455.
41.
PiqueroARJenningsWGFarringtonDP (2010) On the malleability of self-control: Theoretical and policy implications regarding a general theory of crime. Justice Quarterly27: 803–834.
42.
PrattTC (2016) A self-control/life-course theory of criminal behavior. European Journal of Criminology13: 129–146.
43.
PrattTCCullenFT (2000) The empirical status of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime: A meta-analysis. Criminology38: 931–964.
44.
PrattTCTurnerMGPiqueroAR (2004) Parental socialization and community context: A longitudinal analysis of the structural sources of low self-control. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency41: 219–243.
QuinnPDHardenKP (2013) Differential changes in impulsivity and sensation seeking and the escalation of substance use from adolescence to early adulthood. Development and Psychopathology25: 223–239.
47.
RaffaelliMCrockettLJShenYL (2005) Developmental stability and change in self-regulation from childhood to adolescence. Journal of Genetic Psychology166: 54–76.
48.
RebellonCJStrausMAMedeirosR (2008) Self-control in global perspective. An empirical assessment of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory within and across 32 national settings. European Journal of Criminology5: 331–362.
49.
ReineckeJ (2012) Wachstumsmodelle. München and Mering, Germany: Rainer Hampp Verlag.
50.
ReineckeJ (2014) Strukturgleichungsmodelle in den Sozialwissenschaften 2. ed. München: Oldenbourg Wissenschaftsverlag GmbH.
51.
SampsonRJLaubJH (1992) Crime and deviance in the life course. Annual Review of Sociology18: 63–84.
52.
SampsonRJLaubJH (1993) Crime in the Making: Pathways and Turning Points through Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
53.
SampsonRJLaubJH (2003) Life-course desisters? Trajectories of crime among delinquent boys followed to age 70. Criminology41: 301–340.
54.
SchaferJLGrahamJW (2002) Missing data: Our view of the state of the art. Psychological methods7: 147–177.
55.
SchulzS (2014) Individual differences in the deterrence process: Which individuals learn (most) from their offending experiences?Journal of Quantitative Criminology30: 215–236.
56.
SchulzS (2016) Don’t blow your cool: Provocation, violent coping, and the conditioning effects of self-control. Journal of Quantitative Criminology32: 561–587.
57.
SiegfriedCWoessnerG (2016) The explanatory power of the general theory of crime: A comparative analysis of a general population and serious offender sample. Deviant Behavior37: 509–524.
58.
SteinbergL (2008) A social neuroscience perspective on adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Review28: 78–106.
59.
SteinbergL (2010) A dual systems model of adolescent risk-taking. Developmental Psychobiology52: 216–224.
60.
SteinbergLAlbertDCauffmanEet al. (2008) Age differences in sensation seeking and impulsivity as indexed by behavior and self-report: Evidence for a dual systems model. Developmental Psychology44: 1764–1778.
61.
TurnerMGPiqueroAR (2002) The stability of self-control. Journal of Criminal Justice30: 457–471.
62.
TurnerMGPiqueroARPrattTC (2005) The school context as a source of self-control. Journal of Criminal Justice33: 327–339.
63.
VaskeJWardJTBoisvertDWrightJP (2012) The stability of risk-seeking from adolescence to emerging adulthood. Journal of Criminal Justice40: 313–322.
64.
VaughnMGDe LisiMBeaverKMWrightJP (2008) Identifying latent classes of behavioral risk based on early childhood manifestations of self-control. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice7: 16–31.
65.
VazsonyiATHuangL (2010) Where self-control comes from: On the development of self-control and its relationship to deviance over time. Developmental Psychology46: 245–257.
66.
VazsonyiATMikuškaJKelleyEL (2017) It’s time: A meta-analysis on the self-control-deviance link. Journal of Criminal Justice48: 48–63.
67.
WardJTNoblesMRFoxKA (2015) Disentangling self-control from its elements: A bifactor analysis. Journal of Quantitative Criminology31: 595–627.
68.
WrightJPBeaverKM (2005) Do parents matter in creating self-control in their children? A genetically informed test of Gottfredson and Hirschi’s theory of low self-control. Criminology43: 1169–1202.
69.
WikströmP-OSampsonRJ (2003) Social mechanisms of community influences on crime and pathways in criminality. In: LaheyBBMoffittTECaspiA (eds) The Causes of Conduct Disorder and Serious Juvenile Delinquency. New York: Guilford Press, 118–148.
70.
WikströmP-OTreiberK (2007) The role of self-control in crime causation: Beyond Gottfredson and Hirschi’s general theory of crime. European Journal of Criminology4: 237–264.
71.
WinfreeLTTaylorTJHeNEsbensenF-A (2006) Self-control and variability over time: Multivariate results using a 5-year, multisite panel of youths. Crime and Delinquency52: 253–286.
