Psychological Reports, 2011, 109, 3, 1-15. © Psychological Reports 2011
Relationship between impulsiveness and deviant behavior among adolescents in the classroom: age and sex differences1, 2 Ángeles Esteban and Carmen Tabernero University of Córdoba, Spain Summary.—To assess the relationship between impulsiveness and deviant behavior among 103 adolescents, taking into account their sociodemographic characteristics, the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale and a self-assessment measure with regard to disruptive and deviant behaviors which had occurred in the last 90 days were used. The results show that impulsiveness and disruptive behavior in the classroom were related to deviant behavior outside of the classroom. Therefore, age and sex explained the relationship between impulsiveness and behavior. The older adolescents and the girls showed less disruptive behaviors than the younger participants and the boys; both variables showed an interactive effect on disruptive behavior. The age at which sexual activity commenced and the number of sexual partners were also significantly related to impulsiveness and disruptive and deviant behavior. Similarly, impulsiveness was shown to have a significant relationship with disruptive and deviant behavior, and disruptive behavior was shown to have a significant relationship with deviant behavior.
Recently, Jiménez, Musitu, and Povedano (2009) showed that in industrialized countries with a market economy, a qualitative and quantitative change has been observed in the pattern of violent behaviors among adolescents: not only has there been an increase in the frequency of criminal acts which involve damaging public or private property, but there has also been a more significant increase in the frequency of violent acts toward people, especially those aimed at people of the same or younger age groups, such as mugging and intimidation, homicide and murder, and injury and sex crimes. Hence, adolescence has traditionally been understood as a period characterized by the transgression of rules and a struggle to improve and develop both personally and socially (Caprara, Del Bove, Gerbino, Pastorelli, & Vecchio, 2007). Research has depicted teenagers as impulsive individuals with a strong desire for change (Piaget, 1972). According to Watson (1978), change can be a very positive force, but can also have grave negative consequences. Hence, the level of behavioral adaptation among individuals in general, and specifically among adoles1 Address correpondence to Carmen Tabernero, Department of Psychology, University of Córdoba, Avenida San Alberto Magno s/n, 14004 Córdoba, Spain or e-mail (
[email protected]). 2 This paper was based on a research project supported by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (Grant PSI2009-07423), of which Carmen Tabernero was the principal investigator.
DOI 10.2466/02.07.09.PR0.109.6.
ISSN 0033-2941
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cents, will be marked by the use which is made of this drive for change. With a view to avoiding the possible harmful consequences of deviant behavior—for the victim, the environment, and the adolescent—society needs to regulate the behavior of citizens by establishing rules and by placing boundaries on behavior (Watson, 1978). In this respect, Arvey and Zhang (2009) classified transgressive behavior on the basis of needs that must be met. Citizens will either break a rule in the search for social welfare (normative innovative) or their individual well-being (deviant behavior). During adolescence, deviant behavior can be classified according to two categories: small-scale deviant or criminal behavior—known colloquially as “loutish” behavior—and disruptive behavior in the classroom (Cauffman, Monahan, Mulvey, & Steinberg, 2009; Mrug & Windle, 2009b). Owing to the vast array of variables that come into play, the behavior, attitudes, and even the personal characteristics of deviant adolescents differ significantly from those of the general population (Blonigen, 2010). Deviant adolescents present personal characteristics and behaviors that may herald deviant and even criminal behavior in the future. Carroll, Houghton, Durkin, and Hattie (2009) and Zagar, Busch, Grove, and Hughes (2009) reported that personality variables, and specifically impulsiveness, were linked with mild to severe deviant behavior. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between deviant behavior and impulsiveness among adolescents, taking into account their sociodemographic characteristics (e.g., age and sex). Therefore, another aim of this study is to analyze the relationships found in previous studies, specifically between certain sociodemographic factors and the variables of impulsiveness, disruptive behavior, and deviant behavior. Some research has shown that sociodemographic factors, such as sex and age, are associated with the variable of impulsiveness. In a study developed by Whiteside and Lynam (2001), the authors state that age and sex exert a clear influence on impulsiveness. These authors claim that boys are more likely than girls to display impulsive behavior. The relationship between impulsiveness and adolescence has also been observed by Eklund, Kerr, and Stattin (2010). These authors isolated this developmental stage, and found that younger adolescents achieved higher scores for impulsiveness than older individuals (Albert, Banich, Cauffman, Grahan, Steinberg, & Woolard, 2008). Furthermore, the age at which the subject first became sexually active and the number of sexual partners are associated with impulsive behavior (Miller, Flory, Lynam, & Leukefeld, 2003). As regards the study of disruptive behavior, Helenius, Helstelä, Piha, and Sourander (2000) found that age and disruptive behavior are linked. They confirmed an increase in conflict behaviors during the early cycle of secondary education and a subsequent decline at the end of this cy-
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cle. Along different lines, with regard to gender differences, Hubbard, Ialongo, Kellam, Masyn, Petras, Poduska, et al. (2006) identified differential behaviors according to sex, finding that boys showed a higher frequency of disruptive behaviors in the classroom than girls. Other authors (Braza, Carreras, & Muñoz, 2004), on the other hand, have found an interaction effect between sex and age in relation to disruptive behaviors in the classroom. The results showed that boys classed as disruptive in the early cycle of Spanish secondary education (12 to 14 years old) had high scores for prosocial leadership, aggressiveness, stubbornness, and impulsiveness, whereas girls obtained lower scores for social sensitivity (taking the control group or the normal population as a reference). In the final cycle of Spanish secondary education (15 to 16 years old), however, no significant differences were found between disruptive and nondisruptive boys; disruptive girls, on the other hand, displayed lower scores in help and collaboration behaviors and conformity with rules. Age and sex were linked with the commencement of sexual activity. In this respect, the age at commencement of sexual activity and the number of sexual partners have also been shown to be related to disruptive behavior in the classroom, e.g., Miller, et al. (2003). In regard to the relationship between the variable of impulsiveness and disruptive behavior, previous research has revealed a stable relationship between the manifestation of disruptive behaviors in the classroom and the presence of impulsiveness, as is the case with violent displays directed at peers (Binney, Bowers, Cowie, & Smith, 1993; Ferdinand, van Lier, Nijs, & Verhulst, 2007). Age is seen to be a highly relevant variable in the study of deviant behavior (Cauffman, et al., 2009). In terms of the relationship between sex and deviant behavior, a great deal of research has shown that boys display more deviant behavior than girls (Mrug & Windle, 2009a). As regards the sexual conduct of adolescents, the age at which the youth first becomes sexually active and the number of sexual partners could act as mediatory variables with regard to deviant behavior (Miller, et al., 2003). Similarly, a great deal of research has reflected a stable relationship between impulsiveness and the manifestation of violent behaviors (Binney, et al., 1993; Ferdinand, et al., 2007), thus confirming the relationship between impulsiveness and antisocial and/or criminal behavior. Gray (1981) understood that impulsiveness is a key element in the explanation of anti-social behavior; it is given a similar role by Newman (1987) in disinhibitory psychopathology. Herrnstein and Wilson (1985) recognized crime as a process of rational decision making in which impulsiveness plays an important role. Hence, Gómez, Luengo, Romero, and Sobral (2000) and Zagar, et al. (2009) found that impulsiveness had predictive power with regard to antisocial behavior among young individuals when evaluated longitudinally.
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Finally, the construct of disruptive behavior is the most common behavioral problem in children (Campbell, 1995). Disruptive behavior during childhood is both concurrently and prospectively related to impaired functioning in many domains, such as the social, emotional, and academic domains (Rutter, Giller, & Hagell, 1998). Disruptive behavior shows remarkably high stability over time (e.g., Campbell, 1995). Eisemann, Hägglöf, Koposov, and Ruchkin (2001) identified a positive and significant relationship between disruptive behavior and deviant behavior. In addition, disruptive behavior during childhood is associated with negative outcomes in adulthood including delinquency, unemployment, substance use, poor mental health, and parenting problems (Kroneman, Loeber, Hipwell, & Koot, 2009). Aggressiveness, both verbal and physical, and the transgression of rules or laws peak during adolescence, specifically at the onset of adolescence, and then decline. This is particularly notable in crimes of assault and other violent crimes. However, although the general number of aggressive acts decreases, the same is not true of other, more specific forms of aggression such as social ostracism or robbery (Eisemann, et al., 2001). According to authors such as Shaffer (1994), this is a consequence of the learning process of adolescents, who tend to show their rage and hostility in a more concealed and less open and aggressive way. Based on these previous contributions, the following hypotheses were formed. (H1) Impulsiveness and disruptive behavior will be positively related to deviant behavior. (H2) Sociodemographic variables will be related to disruptive behaviors. Older adolescents will show fewer disruptive behaviors than younger adolescents, and girls will show fewer disruptive behaviors than boys. Age and sex will have an interactive effect on disruptive behavior. (H3) The age at which sexual activity commences and the number of sexual partners will be significantly related to impulsiveness and disruptive and deviant behavior. Method Participants This study was carried out with a sample of 103 adolescent students in the Spanish secondary education cycle and optional Spanish secondary education. The participants were from a town in southern Spain. The age range of the participants was between 11 and 18 years (M = 14.5, SD = 1.7). Fifty-seven of the participants were girls. The students’ educational levels were spread across five academic years (1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year of Spanish secondary education and 1st year of optional Spanish secondary education). A small percentage of the students had not passed their previous years and were consequently older than the rest of the group. The
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high school in question had three classes in each year group, and the sample represents one class from each year group. Procedure The evaluation was performed using a questionnaire which was completed by the participants, according to the following protocol: a collaborator entered the classroom with the professor, who introduced him to the class. The teacher informed them of the need to complete the questionnaire and the collaborator requested their cooperation directly. The collaborator encouraged them to answer and to ask him any questions during the process. The questionnaire was filled out in the classrooms during school hours. The anonymity of the participants was guaranteed, and no time limit was fixed for them to answer the questions. The researcher was particularly careful not to exert any pressure in this regard. The time required to complete the questionnaires varied according to the age of the participants, ranging from 15 to 25 min. Variables The questionnaire which was used evaluated different variables and was therefore a compilation of various measures. First, it was used to gather information about certain variables and personal sociodemographic data. Then, an adaptation of the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS–11; Patton, Stanford, & Barratt, 1995) was applied, and finally, during the evaluation of the participants’ disruptive (in class) and deviant (in general) behaviors, these variables were considered to be criterion variables. To guarantee that the participants would understand the questionnaire and each of the questions it contained, it was applied to a small sample with a similar age range to that of the definitive sample. This pilot sample was formed of five girls and five boys with similar sociodemographic profiles to the participants in the final sample. The results showed that the items proposed were understood correctly. Sociodemographic and personal variables.—These variables reflected the age of the participants, their sex, one item about the presence or absence of a diagnosis of hyperactivity, one item about the age when they first became sexually active, and one final question about their number of sexual partners so far. Impulsiveness.—A short version of the impulsiveness scale developed by Barratt (BIS–11; Barratt, et al., 1995) was distributed to the students. The original questionnaire was in English. It was translated and back-translated into a Spanish version by native speakers. The variable measured by this scale is personal impulsiveness, which is understood as a characteristic of thought that defines action.
Author: You must add a sentence affirming and reporting sphericity was checked.
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Following Ireland and Archer’s procedure (2008) to validate the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale BIS-11, some items from the original scale were removed for the purposes of the current study since they were not applicable to the student sample (i.e., “I plan for job insecurity” or “I change jobs”), and other items were removed for better internal consistency reliability. The scale comprised 15 items (for example, “I like to think about complex problems”), which were measured using a 5-point scale with anchors 1: Never and 5: Always. Factor analysis with varimax rotation was applied to this scale. The analysis yielded three factors with eigenvalues exceeding unity, and the factor solution accounted for 38.83% of the total variance (Ireland and Archer, 2008, found a solution accounted for 38.6% of the total variance). Table 1 shows the primary factor loading for each of the three factors. Cronbach’s alphas indicated moderate internal consistency reliability. Thus, the results from the factor analysis provided support for scales measuring cognitive impulsiveness, motor impulsiveness, and attentional impulsiveness. The three factors clustered in a similar way to the results found in the study from which the questionnaire was taken for adaptation. Data showed a correlation matrix with the presence of many coefficients .40 and above, a Kaiser-Mayer-Olkin value of 0.66 ,and a Bartlett’s test of sphericity was statistically significant (χ2 = 235.96, p .40 are in boldface for clarity.
Results With a view to identifying the relationship between the different variables included in the study, a correlation analysis was performed, and the results are shown in Table 3. The relationships between the variables were as expected. For example, as the age of the participants increased, the number of reported impulsive displays decreased. The results confirmed the first hypotheses regarding the relationship between impulsiveness and deviant behavior. The relationship between the age at which sexual activity had commenced and the number of sexual partners and impulsiveness was also confirmed (Table 3).
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Impulsiveness and Deviant Behavior TABLE 3 Means, Standard Deviations, and Correlations of Main Variables 1 1. Age 2. Cognitive I .22* 3. Motor I −.06 4. Attent. I −.07 5. Age sexually active .41† 6. Sexual partners .29† 7. Peers DB .11 8. Teacher DB −.20* 9. Violent DB −.06 10. Deviant behavior −.01 M 14.45 SD 1.73
2
3
4
5
6
.34† .21*
−.26†
.11
−.05
−.18
.13 .002 .19 .10
−.06 −.07 −.04 −.05
−.23* −.14 −.04 −.03
.82† .24* .11 −.07 −.06 .01 −.02
−.26† 3.23 .79
−.11 3.05 .70
.06 2.71 5.75
.22* 3.57 .57
.01 .25 .62
7
8
.15 .36†
.25†
9
10
.35† .27† .74† 139.21 54.78 22.84 338.17 700.52 172.75 91.52 1,174.67
*p
