An Evaluation of Dual Systems Theories of Adolescent Delinquency in a Normative Longitudinal Cohort Study of Youth

• Published in: Journal of youth and adolescence 2021-07, Vol.50 (7), p.1293-1307
• Main Authors: Murray, Aja Louise, Zhu, Xinxin, Mirman, Jessica Hafetz, Ribeaud, Denis, Eisner, Manuel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescents; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child and School Psychology; Child development; Clinical Psychology; Cohort analysis; Delinquency; Early Adolescents; Empirical Research; Health Psychology; History of Psychology; Juvenile delinquency; Law and Psychology; Males; Psychology; Regulation; Risk behavior; Self control; Substance abuse; System theory; Systems Approach; Systems theory; Teenagers
• ISSN: 0047-2891; 1573-6601
• DOI: 10.1007/s10964-021-01433-z

Dual systems theories of adolescent risk-taking propose that the socioemotional and self-regulation systems develop at different rates, resulting in a peak in sensation-seeking in adolescence at a time when self-regulation abilities are not yet fully mature. This “developmental imbalance” between bottom-up drives for reward and top-down control is proposed to create a period of vulnerability for high-risk behaviors such as delinquency, substance use, unprotected sex, and reckless driving. In this study, data from the Swiss longitudinal normative z-proso study ( n  = 1522, n  = 784 male; aged 11, 13, 15, 17, and 20) were used to test whether the presence of a developmental imbalance between sensation-seeking and self-regulation is associated with trajectories of engagement in delinquency across early adolescence to adulthood. Using a latent class growth analysis of sensation-seeking, self-regulation, and delinquency, it was found that a model with 3 classes was optimal in the whole sample and male sub-sample, including one class characterized by a developmental imbalance and corresponding adolescent peak in delinquency. In females, there was no evidence for a class that could be described according to the trajectories hypothesized in dual systems theory. This study’s results support the claim that a developmental imbalance may drive an adolescent increase in delinquency. However, this applies only to a small subgroup of individuals, particularly males.