South Korean adolescents' delinquency, disclosure, parental knowledge, parent-child closeness, and delinquent peer associations

J Res Adolesc. 2023 Jun;33(2):514-529. doi: 10.1111/jora.12822. Epub 2022 Dec 26.

Abstract

The present study sought to examine longitudinal associations among delinquency, children's disclosure to parents, parent-child relationship quality, and parental knowledge in a South Korean sample. Longitudinal research shows that in Western samples, delinquency is negatively associated with the latter three variables. We also sought to test whether the associations varied across gender. We found little evidence of significant reciprocal relationships among the variables and no differences in associations across gender. A second analysis revealed that adolescents' involvement with delinquent peers was a good predictor of subsequent delinquency for males and females. Implications of the findings for future research and practice are discussed.

Keywords: South Korea; child disclosure; delinquency.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Disclosure*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Juvenile Delinquency*
  • Male
  • Parent-Child Relations
  • Parenting
  • Parents
  • Republic of Korea