The Family, Low Self-Control, and Deviance: A Cross-Cultural and Cross-National Test of Self-Control Theory

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: vazsonyi{at}auburn.edu.

	Abstract

The current investigation examined the predictive strength of family processes (closeness, support, and monitoring) both for low self-control and for a variety of deviance measures based on data from youth in seven different cultural and national groups (<it>N </it>= 8,997) from Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United States (nonrural high school, rural high school in the &ldquo;Black Belt,&rdquo; and university students). Findings from multigroup structural equation modeling analyses provided consistent support for highly similar patterns of associations among family processes, low self-control, and deviance measures across groups. In addition, they also indicated that family processes had both direct and indirect effects, through low self-control, on deviance. Together, family processes and low self-control explained between 25% and 36% of the variance in deviance across samples, net the effects by age, sex, family structure, and socioeconomic status.

First published on March 9, 2007, doi:10.1177/0093854806292299

Criminal Justice and Behavior 2007;34:505.

A more recent version of this article appeared on April 1, 2007
This version was published on March 14, 2007


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