Abstract

The aim of the present study is to verify the social contest model of antisocial behaviour proposed by Patterson and colleagues (e.g. Patterson, Reid and Dishion, 1992) on a sample of early-adolescents. Structural equation modelling were applied to 10-month longitudinal data from 139 students (54,0% males). Early-adolescents completed a questionnaire in which they reported family conflicts, parental support, what their parents know about their activity, association with deviant peers, and antisocial behaviours. Results show that families with high level of conflict were less likely to support their children. Those conditions resulted in less parental knowledge about children activity, making association with deviant peers more likely. Low parental knowledge about children activity and association with deviant peers were strong predictors of engagement in antisocial behaviour explaining 27% of the variance of the construct. Even if association with deviant peers was the most proximal social influence on antisocial behaviour, some parental characteristics (such as conflicts, support, and knowledge) were key parenting practices that influenced this developmental process.