Poster(s)
Delinquent behaviour and temperament in a nationally-representative group of children aged 9 years
Aisling Murray
Economic and Social Research Institute
Maeve Thornton
Economic and Social Research Institute
Objectives: We present descriptive data on the frequency of delinquent behaviours in a nationally representative sample of nine-year-old children. We then look at the relationship between child temperament and delinquent behaviour.
Design: Data were collected as part of Growing Up in Ireland, a national longitudinal study of children.
Methods: Growing Up in Ireland involves 8500 children and their families who were randomly selected through the primary school system. Parents were provided with a list of delinquent behaviours from a list adapted from DSM-IV and asked if the child had engaged in any of these behaviours in the past year. Parents also completed the EAS temperament scale in respect of each child. The Emotionality subscale of this measure was divided into quartiles, which was compared to parental reports of selected behaviours such as ‘has been physically cruel to other people or animals’.
Results: Nearly six per cent of children had ‘often lied to obtain goods or favours’ in the previous years and 1.1 per cent had been physically cruel. Other behaviours such as running away from home were less common. Children in the top quartile for emotionality were more likely to have engaged in delinquent behaviours.
Conclusions: This study indicates the level of delinquent behaviour among a nationally representative set of children (rather than a clinical sample). It also shows that temperament, particularly emotionality, is associated with delinquent behaviour even in children as young as 9-years-old.
