Delinquent behaviour patterns in adolescence: Development and associated personality traits

The present study examined subgroups of delinquent adolescents and the short-term development of delinquency and personality traits characterizing these subgroups. Participants were girls and boys examined at the beginning of the 8th grade and followed up at the end of the 9th grade (n = 901). Four delinquency subgroups were identified for boys and for girls on both occasions, primarily characterized by well-adjusted behaviour, minor delinquency, serious delinquency or violent delinquency. The findings indicated that most adolescents displaying a certain delinquency pattern in 8th grade displayed a similar delinquency pattern in 9th grade. However, boys and girls involved in minor delinquency, and boys involved in violent delinquency, were more likely than expected to develop serious delinquency over time, indicating a progression towards more serious and versatile delinquency. Delinquent adolescents were in general more disinhibited, less adjusted and conforming, and more aggressive than well-adjusted adolescents, whereas boys in the serious delinquency subgroup and girls in the violent delinquency subgroup also were characterized by somatic anxiety. The findings support making a distinction between antisocial behaviour subgroups and indicate some personality traits associated with certain subgroups of delinquent adolescents.