title: Parent-child relationships of boys in different offending trajectories: a developmental perspective.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study tested the theoretical assumption that transformations of parent-child relationships in late childhood and adolescence would differ for boys following different offending trajectories.
  
  
  METHODS
  Using longitudinal multiinformant data of 503 boys (ages 7-19), we conducted Growth Mixture Modeling to extract offending trajectories. Developmental changes in child reports of parent-child joint activities and relationship quality were examined using Latent Growth Curves.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Five offending trajectories were found: non-offenders, moderate childhood offenders, adolescent-limited offenders, serious childhood offenders, and serious persistent offenders. Non-offenders reported high and stable levels of relationship quality between age 10 and 16. Adolescent-limited offenders reported a similarly high relationship quality as non-offenders at ages 7 and 10, but a lower and decreasing relationship quality in adolescence. Compared with non-offenders, serious persistent offenders reported poorer parent-child relationship quality at all ages, and a decreasing relationship quality in adolescence. Serious persistent offenders and adolescent-limited offenders reported similar levels and changes in parent-child relationship quality in adolescence. Although serious persistent offenders reported fewer joint activities at age 10 and 13 than non-offenders, a similar linear decrease in joint activities in early to middle adolescence was found for boys in each trajectory.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Developmental changes in parent-child relationship quality differ for different types of offenders. This finding has scientific and practical implications.
authors: Faculty of Social Sciences, Research Centre for Adolescent Development, Utrecht University, Utrecht, The Netherlands. l.keijsers@uu.nl
authors: Loes
authors: L
authors: Keijsers
authors: Rolf
authors: R
authors: Loeber
authors: Susan
authors: S
authors: Branje
authors: Wim
authors: W
authors: Meeus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002657:Child Development; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010414:Pennsylvania; D012307:Risk Factors; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult