The Relationship of Impulsivity-Inattention and Verbal Ability to Overt and Covert Antisocial Behaviors in Children

Research has linked many risk factors in childhood and early adolescence to antisocial behaviors in later adolescence and early adulthood; however, less attention has focused on the interaction among factors in the prediction of distinct forms of antisocial behaviors. This study investigated the additive and synergistic association of inattention-impulsivity and verbal ability with overt and covert antisocial behaviors using a high risk community sample of 270 (49.8% female) children. Multiple regression analyses indicated kindergarten inattention-impulsivity was significantly related to overt and covert antisocial behaviors and the interaction of inattention-impulsivity and verbal ability significantly predicted covert but not overt antisocial behaviors during kindergarten and first grade. Kindergarten verbal ability did not buffer the association of impulsivity-inattention with covert antisocial behavior; rather higher verbal ability was associated with increased risk for covert antisocial behavior in the presence of high levels of impulsivity-inattention. The association of inattention-impulsivity with higher levels of overt and covert antisocial behavior begins during childhood, and may set off developmental trajectories associated with the acceleration of antisocial behavior in adolescence.     

The Overrepresentation of Juvenile Crime Proportions in Robbery Clearance Statistics

Many, especially casual observers, interpret juvenile arrest statistics to bea measure of crime committed by juveniles. Others argue that clearancestatistics are a more representative index of the relative responsibility ofjuveniles. Using data from the FBI's National Incident-Based ReportingSystem, this paper explores the likelihoods of arrests for juvenile andadult robbery offenders. The findings show that juvenile robbery suspectsare 23% more likely to be arrested than adults, and 32% more likely aftercontrolling for other incident characteristics. Analyses also found anincreased likelihood of arrest in robbery incidents in which (1) the victimwas a juvenile, a female, or white; (2) the offender was white or female;and (3) the victim was injured. The presence of a weapon was not relatedto the likelihood of arrest. The differential influences of specificincident characteristics on the likelihood of arrest for juveniles andadults highlight the underlying biases of law enforcement statistics inassessing the juvenile component of crime.