Abstract
Substantial evidence has shown the strong effects of being affiliated with deviant peers on adolescent’s antisocial behaviour. However, any measure has been consistently used in this field to evaluate that influence. Therefore, the main objective of the current study was to validate a measure to assess the presence of antisocial behaviour in peer groups within the Spanish context. The final sample was composed of 1148 adolescents from secondary schools in Galicia (NW Spain), aged 12 to 18 (M = 13.28; SD = 1.27), 51.9% males. The exploratory analyses indicated the existence of two factors in the structure of the scale: a factor related to antisocial behaviour and another factor specifically related to drugs. Overall, the results confirmed the adequate internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion validity of the scale. Therefore, this study proposes the Deviant Peers Scale as a useful instrument for Spanish-speaking contexts aimed to evaluate the influence of deviant affiliations on adolescent problematic behaviour. Theoretical and practical implications of these contributions are discussed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akers, R. L. (1977). Deviant behavior: A social learning approach. Belmont: Wadsworth.
Andrews, D. A., & Bonta, J. (2010). The psychology of criminal conduct (5th ed.). Cincinnati: Anderson Publishing Co.
Assink, M., van der Put, C. E., Hoeve, M., de Vries, S. L. A., Stams, G. J. J. M., & Oort, F. J. (2015). Risk factors for persistent delinquent behavior among juveniles: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 42, 47–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2015.08.002.
Barnow, S., Lucht, M., & Freyberger, H. (2005). Correlates of aggressive and delinquent conduct problems in adolescence. Aggressive Behavior, 31, 24–39. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20033.
Beyers, J. M., Loeber, R., Wikstrom, P. H., & Stouthamer-Loeber, M. (2001). What predicts adolescent violence in better-off neighborhoods? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 29, 369–381. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010491218273.
Brook, D. W., Brook, J. S., Rubenstone, E., Zhang, C., & Saar, N. S. (2011). Developmental associations between externalizing behaviors, peer delinquency, drug use, perceived neighborhood crime, and violent behavior in urban communities. Aggressive Behavior, 37, 349–361. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20397.
Brown, T. A. (2006). Confirmatory factor analysis for applied research. New York: The Guilford Press.
Burk, W. J., van der Vorst, H., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2012). Alcohol use and friendship dynamics: Selection and socialization in early-, middle-, and late-adolescent peer networks. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, 73, 89–98. https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2012.73.89.
Burt, S. A., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2009). Non-shared environmental mediation of the association between deviant peer affiliation and adolescent externalizing behaviors over time: Results from a cross-lagged monozygotic twin differences design. Developmental Psychology, 45, 1752–1760. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0016687.
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Collins, W. A., & Steinberg, L. (2006). Adolescent development in interpersonal context. In N. Eisenberg (Ed.), Handbook of child psychology: Vol. 3. Social, emotional, and personality development (6th ed., pp. 1003–1067). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0316.
Cutrín, O., Gómez-Fraguela, J. A., & Luengo, M. A. (2015). Peer-group mediation in the relationship between family and juvenile antisocial behavior. European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, 7, 59–65. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpal.2014.11.005.
Cutrín, O., Gómez-Fraguela, J. A., & Sobral, J. (2017a). Gender differences in the influence of parenting on youth antisocial behaviour through deviant peers. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 20, e58. https://doi.org/10.1017/sjp.2017.53,E58.
Cutrín, O., Gómez-Fraguela, J. A., & Sobral, J. (2017b). Gender differences in youth substance use: The effects of parenting through a deviant peer group. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 26, 472–781. https://doi.org/10.1080/1067828X.2017.1369203.
Deutsch, A. R., Crockett, L. J., Wolff, J. M., & Russell, S. T. (2012). Parent and peer pathways to adolescent delinquency: Variations by ethnicity and neighborhood context. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41, 1078–1094. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-012-9754-y.
Dishion, T. J., & Tipsord, J. M. (2011). Peer contagion in child and adolescent social and emotional development. Annual Review of Psychology, 62, 189–214. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.093008.100412.
Dishion, T. J., Ha, T., & Véronneau, M. (2012). An ecological analysis of the effects of deviant peer clustering on sexual promiscuity, problem behavior, and childbearing from early adolescence to adulthood: An enhancement of the life history framework. Developmental Psychology, 48, 703–717. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0027304.
Eassey, J. M., & Buchanan, M. (2015). Fleas and feathers: The role of peers in the study of juvenile delinquency. In M. D. Krohn & J. Lane (Eds.), The Handbook of Juvenile Delinquency and Juvenile Justice (pp. 199–216). West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons Inc.. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118513217.ch14.
Espinoza, G., Gillen-O'Neel, C., Gonzales, N. A., & Fuligni, A. J. (2014). Friend affiliations and school adjustment among Mexican-American adolescents: The moderating role of peer and parent support. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1969–1981. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-013-0023-5.
Ettekal, I., & Ladd, G. W. (2015). Developmental pathways from childhood aggression–disruptiveness, chronic peer rejection, and deviant friendships to early-adolescent rule breaking. Child Development, 86, 614–631. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12321.
Farrington, D. P., Ttofi, M. M., & Coid, J. W. (2009). Development of adolescence-limited, late-onset, and persistent offenders from age 8 to age 48. Aggressive Behavior, 35, 150–163. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.20296.
Fergusson, D. M., Woodward, L. J., & Horwood, L. J. (1999). Childhood peer relationship problems and young people's involvement with deviant peers in adolescence. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 27, 357–369. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021923917494.
Gillies, W. M., Boden, J. M., Friesen, M. D., Macfarlane, S., & Fergusson, D. M. (2017). Ethnic differences in adolescent mental health problems: Examining early risk factors and deviant peer affiliation. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 26, 2889–2899. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-017-0792-7.
Glueck, S., & Glueck, E. (1950). Unraveling juvenile delinquency. Oxford: Commonwealth Fund.
Gottefredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Henry, D. B., Tolan, P. H., Gorman-Smith, D., & Schoeny, M. E. (2012). Risk and direct protective factors for youth violence: Results from the centers for disease control and prevention's multisite violence prevention project. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 43, S67–S75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2012.04.025.
Herrenkohl, T. I., Lee, J., & Hawkins, J. D. (2012). Risk versus direct protective factors and youth violence: Seattle social development project. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 43, S41–S56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2012.04.030.
Holt, T. J., Bossler, A. M., & May, D. C. (2012). Low self-control, deviant peer associations, and juvenile cyberdeviance. American Journal of Criminal Justice: AJCJ, 37, 378–395. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12103-011-9117-3.
Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118.
Kaufmann, D. R., Wyman, P. A., Forbes-Jones, E. L., & Barry, J. (2007). Prosocial involvement and antisocial peer affiliations as predictors of behavior problems in urban adolescents: Main effects and moderating effects. Journal of Community Psychology, 35, 417–434. https://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.20156.
Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (2000). What parents know, how they know it, and several forms of adolescent adjustment: Further support for a reinterpretation of monitoring. Developmental Psychology, 36, 366–380. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.36.3.366.
Lansford, J. E., Dodge, K. A., Fontaine, R. G., Bates, J. E., & Pettit, G. S. (2014). Peer rejection, affiliation with deviant peers, delinquency, and risky sexual behavior. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1742–1751. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-014-0175-y.
Lanza, S. T., Cooper, B. R., & Bray, B. C. (2014). Population heterogeneity in the salience of multiple risk factors for adolescent delinquency. Journal of Adolescent Health, 54, 319–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2013.09.007.
Luengo, M. A., Otero-López, J. M., Romero, E., Gómez-Fraguela, J. A., & Tavares-Filho, E. T. (1999). Análisis de ítems para la evaluación de la conducta antisocial: Un estudio transcultural [Item analysis in the assessment of antisocial behavior: a croos-cultural study]. Revista Iberoamericana de Diagnóstico y Evaluación Psicológica, 1, 21–36 Retrieved from http://www.aidep.org/03_ridep/ridep.html.
McAdams, T. A., Salekin, R. T., Marti, C. N., Lester, W. S., & Barker, E. D. (2014). Co-occurrence of antisocial behavior and substance use: Testing for sex differences in the impact of older male friends, low parental knowledge and friends' delinquency. Journal of Adolescence, 37, 247–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.01.001.
Moffitt, T. E. (1993). Adolescence-limited and life-course persistent antisocial behavior. A developmental taxonomy. Psychological Review, 100, 674–701. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.674.
Moffitt, T. E. (2018). Male antisocial behavior in adolescence and beyond. Nature Human Behavior. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-018-0309-4, 2, 177, 186.
Molloy, L. E., Gest, S. D., Feinberg, M. E., & Osgood, D. W. (2014). Emergence of mixed-sex friendship groups during adolescence: Developmental associations with substance use and delinquency. Developmental Psychology, 50, 2449–2461. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0037856.
Mrug, S., Hoza, B., & Bukowski, W. M. (2004). Choosing or being chosen by aggressive-disruptive peers: Do they contribute to children's externalizing and internalizing problems? Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 32, 53–65. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:JACP.0000007580.77154.69.
Negriff, S., Ji, J., & Trickett, P. K. (2011). Exposure to peer delinquency as a mediator between self-report pubertal timing and delinquency: A longitudinal study of mediation. Development and Psychopathology, 23, 293–304. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579410000805.
Ortuño-Sierra, J., Fonseca-Pedrero, E., Paíno, M., & Aritio-Solana, R. (2014). Prevalence of emotional and behavioral symptomatology in Spanish adolescents. Revista de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, 7, 121–130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpsm.2013.12.003.
Rodríguez, J. A., Mirón, L., & Rial, A. (2012). Análisis de la relación entre grupo de iguales, vinculación familiar y escolar, autocontrol y conducta antisocial, en una muestra de adolescentes venezolanos [analysis of the relationship between peer group, attachment to family and school, self-control, and antisocial behaviour in a sample of Venezuelan adolescents]. Revista De Psicología Social, 27, 25–38. https://doi.org/10.1174/021347412798844033.
Samek, D. R., Goodman, R. J., Erath, S. A., McGue, M., & Iacono, W. G. (2016). Antisocial peer affiliation and externalizing disorders in the transition from adolescence to young adulthood: Selection versus socialization effects. Developmental Psychology, 52, 813–823. https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000109.
Samek, D. R., Hicks, B. M., Keyes, M. A., Iacono, W. G., & McGue, M. (2017). Antisocial peer affiliation and externalizing disorders: Evidence for gene × environment × development interaction. Development and Psychopathology, 29, 155–172. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579416000109.
Smith, G. T., McCarthy, D. M., & Anderson, K. G. (2000). On the sins of short-form development. Psychological Assessment, 12, 102–111. https://doi.org/10.1037/1040-3590.12.1.102.
Snyder, J., Schrepferman, L., Bullard, L., McEachern, A., & Patterson, G. (2012). Covert antisocial behavior, peer deviancy training, parenting processes, and sex differences in the development of antisocial behavior during childhood. Development and Psychopathology, 24, 1117–1138. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579412000570.
Stearns, E., Dodge, K. A., & Nicholson, M. (2008). Peer contextual influences on the growth of authority-acceptance problems in early elementary school. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54, 208–231. https://doi.org/10.1353/mpq.2008.0018.
Sutherland, E. H. (1939). Principles of criminology. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott.
Tedor, M. F. (2015). The moderating effect of type of deviance on the relationships among gender, morality, deviant peers, and deviance. Deviant Behavior, 36, 221–244. https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2014.924362.
Thornberry, T. P., Lizotte, A. J., Krohn, M. D., Farnworth, M., & Jang, S. J. (1994). Delinquent peers, beliefs, and delinquent behavior: A longitudinal test of interactional theory. Criminology, 32, 47–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-9125.1994.tb01146.x.
Van der Put, C. E., Creemers, H. E., & Hoeve, M. (2014). Differences between juvenile offenders with and without substance use problems in the prevalence and impact of risk and protective factors for criminal recidivism. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 134, 267–274. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2013.10.012.
Walden, B., McGue, M., lacono, W. G., Burt, S. A., & Elkins, I. (2004). Identifying shared environmental contributions to early substance use: The respective roles of peers and parents. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 113, 440–450. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-843X.113.3.440.
Wang, M., & Dishion, T. J. (2012). The trajectories of adolescents’ perceptions of school climate, deviant peer affiliation, and behavioral problems during the middle school years. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 22, 40–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-7795.2011.00763.x.
Funding
This study was supported by the Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria (Xunta de Galicia) under Grant GPC2015/009 and the Programa de Axudas á etapa predoutoral da Xunta de Galicia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Conflicts of Interest
Olalla Cutrín, Lorena Maneiro, Jorge Sobral, and José Antonio Gómez-Fraguela declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Experiment Participants
All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed Consent
Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Additional information
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Appendices
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Cutrín, O., Maneiro, L., Sobral, J. et al. Validation of the Deviant Peers Scale in Spanish Adolescents: a New Measure to Assess Antisocial Behaviour in Peers. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 41, 185–197 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-018-9710-6
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-018-9710-6