Studies show that family structure is an important factor in explaining delinquency among adolescents (Price & Kunz, 2003). There is a lack of research, however, pertaining to cohabitation. The main goals of this study are to determine if there are variations in delinquency between cohabitating and other family types, and to examine the extent to which parental social control measures account for the variation in delinquency by family structure. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used for the purposes of this study (n = 4,389). While there are no significant differences in violent delinquency between cohabitating families and other family types, results indicate that adolescents from cohabitating families have a greater odds of engaging in nonviolent delinquency compared to those from 2- biological-parent families, although reaching only marginal significance. This difference, however, is explained once parental social control factors are accounted for in the models.
","abstract_html":"<p>Studies show that family structure is an important factor in explaining delinquency among adolescents (Price & Kunz, 2003). There is a lack of research, however, pertaining to cohabitation. The main goals of this study are to determine if there are variations in delinquency between cohabitating and other family types, and to examine the extent to which parental social control measures account for the variation in delinquency by family structure. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used for the purposes of this study (n = 4,389). While there are no significant differences in violent delinquency between cohabitating families and other family types, results indicate that adolescents from cohabitating families have a greater odds of engaging in nonviolent delinquency compared to those from 2- biological-parent families, although reaching only marginal significance. This difference, however, is explained once parental social control factors are accounted for in the models.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Parks, Alisha B"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA (Master of Arts)","degree_level":"Thesis - unrestricted","degree_discipline":"Criminal Justice and Criminology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2013,"date_issued":"2013-12-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2013-12-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:21:11Z","subjects":["Family Structure","Delinquency","Adolescents","Criminology and Criminal Justice"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2279","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Parks, Alisha B"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2013-10-24T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2013-12-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Criminal Justice and Criminology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - unrestricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA (Master of Arts)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Family Structure","Delinquency","Adolescents","Criminology and Criminal Justice"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/3380/viewcontent/ParksA111913f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2279"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Studies show that family structure is an important factor in explaining delinquency among adolescents (Price & Kunz, 2003). There is a lack of research, however, pertaining to cohabitation. The main goals of this study are to determine if there are variations in delinquency between cohabitating and other family types, and to examine the extent to which parental social control measures account for the variation in delinquency by family structure. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used for the purposes of this study (n = 4,389). While there are no significant differences in violent delinquency between cohabitating families and other family types, results indicate that adolescents from cohabitating families have a greater odds of engaging in nonviolent delinquency compared to those from 2- biological-parent families, although reaching only marginal significance. This difference, however, is explained once parental social control factors are accounted for in the models.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The Effects of Family Structure on Juvenile Delinquency"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Parks, Alisha B"],"dc:date.available":["2013-10-24T07:00:00Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2013-12-01T08:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Studies show that family structure is an important factor in explaining delinquency among adolescents (Price & Kunz, 2003). There is a lack of research, however, pertaining to cohabitation. The main goals of this study are to determine if there are variations in delinquency between cohabitating and other family types, and to examine the extent to which parental social control measures account for the variation in delinquency by family structure. Data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) are used for the purposes of this study (n = 4,389). While there are no significant differences in violent delinquency between cohabitating families and other family types, results indicate that adolescents from cohabitating families have a greater odds of engaging in nonviolent delinquency compared to those from 2- biological-parent families, although reaching only marginal significance. This difference, however, is explained once parental social control factors are accounted for in the models.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/3380/viewcontent/ParksA111913f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2279"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["Family Structure","Delinquency","Adolescents","Criminology and Criminal Justice"],"dc:title":["The Effects of Family Structure on Juvenile Delinquency"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Criminal Justice and Criminology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - unrestricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA (Master of Arts)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:21:11Z"}