Peer-reviewed article
The role of contextual factors, school-related attitudes and behavioural traits on lifetime antisocial behaviours among adolescents.
Emina Mehanović, Mariaelisa Renna, Marco Martorana, Erica Viola, Alberto Sciutto et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined risk factors for antisocial behaviour among 1,847 Italian adolescents aged 12-14 years. Over 60% of participants reported engaging in at least one antisocial behaviour in their lifetime. The research identified key risk factors including perceived parental permissiveness toward substance use, low parental support, poor classroom climate, and peer substance use. School attitudes and personality traits like impulsiveness and sensation-seeking partially explained how contextual factors influence antisocial behaviour.
Key points
- 61.2% of adolescents reported at least one lifetime antisocial behaviour; 21.8% reported three or more
- Perceived parental permissiveness to use substances was associated with higher odds of antisocial behaviour
- Low perceived parental support and poor classroom climate were significant risk factors
- Peer substance use perceptions were strongly associated with adolescent antisocial behaviour
- Low respect for teachers and high impulsiveness partially mediated the relationship between contextual factors and antisocial behaviour
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional baseline analysis, so causal relationships cannot be established. The study measures self-reported behaviours and perceptions, which may be subject to social desirability bias.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Antisocial behaviour is a result of a multifactorial process that involves both social-level and individual-level factors. The present study aims to investigate the association of contextual factors with the odds of engaging in antisocial behaviours, and to explore the role of school-related attitudes and behavioural traits in the association between contextual factors and antisocial behaviour among 12- to 14-year-old adolescents. METHODS: The analytical sample included 1847 students of 29 secondary schools in Italy who participated in the baseline survey of the "GAPUnplugged" study. The associations of sociodemographic characteristics, contextual factors, school-related attitudes and behavioural traits with the odds of adolescent's antisocial behaviour were estimated through multilevel mixed-effect models. Exploratory indirect association models were performed to test the potential mediation role of school-related attitudes and behavioural traits in the relationship between contextual factors and adolescent's antisocial behaviour. RESULTS: The prevalence of at least one antisocial behaviour lifetime was 61.2%, of two 39% and of three or more antisocial behaviours 21.8%. Among contextual factors, perceived parental permissiveness to use substances, low perceived parental support, low perceived class climate, and perceptions of peer's cigarette, alcohol and illicit drug use were associated with higher odds of antisocial behaviour. Low pupil's respect for teacher, high impulsiveness and sensation-seeking scores were significant indirect correlates of most contextual factors on antisocial behaviours. CONCLUSION: Contextual factors, school-related attitudes and behavioural traits have a strong influence on antisocial behaviours in adolescence. All these factors should be considered in prevention interventions aimed at reducing or preventing antisocial behaviour among early adolescents.