Relationship between peer attachment and delinquentand risk-taking behaviors

U razdoblju adolescencije odnos s prijateljima predstavlja jednu od najvažnijih veza u životu pojedinca. U novije vrijeme sve se više istražuje uloga privrženosti prijateljima u psihološkoj prilagodbi pojedinca. Adolescenti se nerijetko upuštaju u različite oblike rizičnih i delinkventnih ponašanja pa je osnovni cilj ovog istraživanja bio ispitati odnos takvih ponašanja s privrženošću prijateljima. Ispitane su spolne razlike u privrženosti prijateljima i različitim oblicima rizičnog i delinkventnog ponašanja, te međusobne povezanosti tih varijabli. Također je ispitan doprinos dimenzija privrženosti, spola i vrste škole u objašnjenju individualnih razlika adolescenata u sklonosti različitim oblicima rizičnih i delinkventnih ponašanja kao i sveukupnoj mjeri tih ponašanja. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo 120 učenika i 152 učenice trećih razreda dviju srednjih škola, gimnazije i grafičke škole. Podaci su prikupljeni Upitnikom privrženosti prema prijateljima (Kamenov i Jelić, 2003) i Upitnikom samoiskaza rizičnog i delinkventnog ponašanja mladih (Ajduković, Ručević, Šincek, 2009). Pokazalo se da su mladići skloniji izbjegavanju, a djevojke iskazivanju anksioznosti u prijateljskim odnosima. Također, pokazalo se da su mladići skloniji većini oblika rizičnih i delinkventnih ponašanja te da pokazuju veće rezultate na sveukupnoj mjeri tih ponašanja. Spolne razlike nisu pronađene jedino u počinjenju nasilja u bliskim vezama i rizičnom spolnom ponašanju gledajući subuzorak spolno aktivnih sudionika. Učenici Grafičke škole više se upuštaju u rizična spolna ponašanja, konzumiranje droga i generalno su više skloni svim oblicima rizičnog i delinkventnog ponašanja od gimnazijskih učenika. Potonji iskazuju više anksioznosti u prijateljskim odnosima. Varijable spol, vrsta škole, izbjegavanje i anksioznost objašnjavaju značajan dio varijance većine oblika rizičnih i delinkventnih ponašanja kao i ukupne mjere tih ponašanja, osim varijance nasilja u bliskim vezama i rizičnog spolnog ponašanja u subuzorku spolno aktivnih sudionika. Međutim, pritom se spol pokazao jedinim dosljedno značajnim prediktorom.In adolescence, friendship is one of the most important relationships in life of an individual. Recently, psychologists have been trying to explore the role of attachment in the psychological adjustment of the individual. Adolescents are often engaged in various forms of risks and delinquent behaviors, so the aim of this study was to examine their relation to the peer attachment. The study investigates the gender differences in peer attachment and various forms of risky and delinquent behavior, and their relations. The study also examines the contribution of peer attachment, gender and type of school to individual differences of the participants in various forms of risky and delinquent behaviors as well as in the overall extent of these behaviors. The participants were 120 boys and 152 girls attending third grade of two high schools, gymnasium and graphic school. Data were collected by Peer Attachment Questionnaire (Kamenov & Jelić, 2003) and Youth Self-Reported Delinquency and Risk Behaviors Questionnaire (Ajduković, Ručević, Šincek, 2009). The study showed that boys are more likely to avoid peer relationships and that girls are more likely to be anxious in their peer relationships. Boys are also more prone to most forms of risky and delinquent behaviors and have higher results on an overall measure of these behaviors. Gender differences were not found in the subscale of violence in intimate relationships and risky sexual behavior in the subsample of sexually active participants. Graphic school pupils, in comparison to gymnasium pupils, engage in more risky sexual behavior, drug abuse, and are generally more prone to all forms of delinquency and risk behaviors. They also reported lower anxiety in peer attachment. Gender, type of school, avoidance and anxiety significantly explain the variance of most forms of risky and delinquent behaviors as well as the variance of the total extent of these behaviors , except for the subscales of violence in intimate relationships, and risky sexual behavior in a subsample of sexually active participants. However, gender was the only consistently significant predictor