Does Helping Keep Teens Protected? Longitudinal Bidirectional Relations Between Prosocial Behavior and Problem Behavior.

The current study examined bidirectional, longitudinal links between prosocial and problem behavior. Participants (N = 500) were recruited from a Northwestern city in the United States and assessed for 3 consecutive years from 2009 to 2011 (M(age) of youth at Time 1 = 13.32, SD = 1.05; 52% girls; 67% European American, 33% single-parent families). Results suggested that effects of earlier prosocial behavior toward family and strangers were predictive of fewer problem behaviors 2 years later, while results for prosocial behavior toward friends were more mixed. Results also suggested depression predicted lower prosocial behavior toward family members and anxiety predicted higher prosocial behavior toward friends. Findings show a complex pattern of relations that demonstrate the need to consider targets of helping.