The precursors of young fatherhood and its effect on delinquency of teenage males.

PURPOSE

To investigate the relationship of young fatherhood to delinquency, in terms of precursors and impact of becoming a father on delinquency.

METHODS

The sample consisted of 506 inner-city adolescent males from public schools who were part of a longitudinal study. The independent variables included participants' behaviors, attitudes, demographics, family, peers, and school performance. Young fathers were defined as having become fathers before age 19 years. Two measures of delinquency were used. Odds ratios were calculated, followed by two stepwise logistic regressions. For comparison with matched controls, fathers (n = 62) were matched with nonfathers on age, race, and neighborhood.

RESULTS

The prevalence of young fatherhood was 12.3%. Fathers were more than twice as likely to be delinquent than nonfathers. The factors related to young fatherhood were a subset of those for delinquency. In the stepwise logistic regressions, several factors were uniquely related to either delinquency or young fatherhood. Delinquency did not decrease after becoming a father. Young fathers tended to commit more covert-type delinquent acts than their controls.

CONCLUSIONS

The results indicate that a single theory of problem behavior cannot adequately account for the association between young fatherhood and delinquency.