Early adolescent delinquency: The role of parents and best friends

This three-wave longitudinal study investigates the main and interaction effects of parenting dimensions (i.e., support, monitoring, and psychological control) and best friend delinquency on adolescent delinquent behavior. The sample consists of 433 Dutch adolescents who had reciprocal friendships within the first year of secondary education. Structural equation model-ing analyses reveal that adolescents ’ delinquent behavior influenced their best friends ’ delin-quency but not vice versa. Higher levels of parental support and monitoring, as well as lower levels of psychological control, are associated with decreased levels of adolescent delin-quency. Multigroup analyses show no moderating effects of parenting on the longitudinal associations between best friend delinquency and adolescent delinquent behavior