Pathways to early delinquency: Exploring the individual and collective contributions of difficult temperament, low maternal involvement, and externalizing behavior

AbstractBackground rpose of this study was to investigate the impact of difficult temperament and maternal involvement, measured at ages one and three years, respectively, on externalizing behavior at age five and early delinquency at age nine. s al- and child-reports from 4,897 members of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) were included in a path analysis of four of five waves of FFCWS data: Wave 2 (difficult temperament at age 1), Wave 3 (maternal involvement at age 3), Wave 4 (externalizing behavior at age 5), and Wave 5 (delinquency at age 9). gs gh difficult temperament at age 1 displayed a weak zero-order correlation with delinquency at age 9 and low maternal involvement at age 3 failed to correlate with delinquency at age 9, both entered into significant chained relationships with delinquency via externalizing behavior at age 5. In addition, difficult temperament at age 1 seemed to evoke low parental involvement at age 3. sions spective roles of a difficult temperament, maternal involvement, and externalizing behavior in a proximal chaining process may be partially responsible for the continuity that has been observed in antisocial behavior over time.