Course, co-occurence and longitudinal associations of emotional disturbance and delinquency from adolescence to young adulthood: A six-year three-wave study

Three questions were examined in this study: (a) What is the course of emotional disturbance and delinquency during adolescence and young adulthood? (b) To what extent do emotional disturbance and delinquency co-occur during adolescence and young adulthood? and (c) What are the longitudinal associations between emotional disturbance and delinquency in different age and gender categories during adolescence and young adulthood? Data were used from a national sample of 1,302 adolescents and young adults, who participated in a 6-year 3-wave longitudinal study. Findings showed an increase of emotional disturbance and delinquency from early to midadolescence, after which emotional disturbance stabilized and delinquency declined into young adulthood. A significant but relatively weak co-occurrence of emotional disturbance and delinquency was found. Multigroup LISREL analyses demonstrated that a stability model with no cross-lagged relations fit best for the total sample, and across age and gender categories. Thus, co-occurrence of emotional disturbance and delinquency during adolescence and young adulthood seems to result from associated but separate psychopathological processes. The strong stability of internalizing and externalizing behavior suggests that prevention efforts should be aimed at children and young adolescents