Friends’ Delinquent Behavior—Denver Youth Survey

Abstract

The Friends’ Delinquent Behavior scale is a crucial psychological scale developed as an integral component of the comprehensive and longitudinal Denver Youth Survey (DYS). Initiated in 1987 with foundational support from the Denver Police Department, this specific instrument is designed to systematically quantify the degree of association and exposure between a youth respondent and their friends who engage in various forms of delinquent behavior.

The initial administration utilized a large, representative sample of 1,890 adolescents and young adults, aged 12 to 24, residing in Denver, Colorado. Findings consistently highlight a powerful correlation: participants who report high exposure to friends exhibiting delinquent or risky behaviors are significantly more likely to engage in similar behaviors themselves. The instrument thus serves as a critical measure for understanding social learning theory and the mechanisms of peer influence in the context of youth crime prevention and intervention strategies.

Keywords

Delinquent behavior, Peer influence, Social learning, Criminology, Adolescence, Risky behavior, Denver Youth Survey, Behavioral assessment, Youth crime, Prevention efforts.

Authors

Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado (associated with the Denver Youth Survey).

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Friends’ Delinquent Behavior instrument is to provide a systematic and quantitative measure of a young person’s social environment, specifically focusing on the extent to which their immediate social network, particularly close friends, participates in deviant and risky activities. This measurement is foundational for researchers and practitioners aiming to establish the role of social context and peer pressure in the etiology and maintenance of youth crime and deviance.

By quantifying exposure to delinquent peers, the scale offers strong Predictive Validity regarding the respondent’s own potential involvement in similar actions. These actions include a range of severity, from property damage and substance abuse to violence and weapon carrying. The resulting data is essential for developing targeted public health and criminological prevention strategies designed to mitigate negative peer influence and interrupt cycles of deviance.

Construct

The central construct measured is Peer Delinquency Association and Exposure. This construct is rooted in established sociological and criminological theories, which posit that affiliation with deviant peers is one of the most significant predictors of an individual’s subsequent involvement in criminal or risky activities. The instrument captures the respondent’s subjective perception of the frequency and severity of delinquent acts committed by those within their close friendship circle over the past year.

The scale operationalizes this construct across several key dimensions of deviance. These dimensions range from minor delinquent behavior (such as alcohol use) to more serious forms of deviance (like selling drugs or carrying weapons), and acts of violence (e.g., physical fighting or threatening others). The scoring system is calibrated such that a higher resulting score directly reflects greater exposure to, and potential normalization of, delinquent activities within the respondent’s social network.

Validity

The Friends’ Delinquent Behavior scale demonstrates robust empirical support across several types of validity, primarily stemming from its integration within the highly respected Denver Youth Survey framework. The instrument possesses strong Face Validity, as its items directly and unambiguously assess observable delinquent behaviors carried out by peers, aligning perfectly with the theoretical concept of peer deviance exposure.

Furthermore, strong Construct Validity is evidenced by the consistent theoretical alignment between high scores and recognized risk factors for youth crime. Crucially, the scale exhibits high Predictive Validity, which has been consistently demonstrated across numerous follow-up criminological studies utilizing DYS data. These studies reveal a clear, statistically significant relationship between a respondent’s high score on this instrument and their increased self-reported engagement in delinquent behavior, risky activities, and subsequent involvement with the justice system, confirming its effectiveness in measuring a potent risk factor.

Reliability

As a core component of a major longitudinal study like the Denver Youth Survey, the instrument was meticulously developed to ensure high levels of internal consistency and stability across successive waves of data collection. Although the initial documentation may not specify a precise Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient, instruments designed to measure peer deviance within large epidemiological surveys generally achieve acceptable to good Internal Consistency Reliability (typically reported as α greater than 0.70).

The scale utilizes a straightforward, behaviorally anchored 5-point frequency scale, which is designed to minimize reporting ambiguity and maximize reliable responses from the young adult population. The instrument’s established position within the field of criminological research, particularly its focus on measuring stable social environments over time, lends confidence to its Test-Retest Reliability for tracking consistent patterns of peer influence.

Factor Analysis

The Friends’ Delinquent Behavior scale is composed of eight distinct items that span various categories of deviance, including violence, substance use, and property crime. For most primary research analyses, the scale is treated as a single, unified, and unidimensional measure of overall Peer Delinquency Exposure. This approach suggests a dominant underlying factor linking all forms of peer deviance.

However, advanced psychometric analyses, such as exploratory or confirmatory factor analysis performed on the larger DYS data set, often explore whether latent sub-factors exist. Researchers might investigate whether items related to, for instance, property crime cluster separately from those related to physical aggression or substance abuse. Despite these potential sub-factors, the standard and most common scoring protocol involves summing all eight item responses, reinforcing the scale’s fundamental intention to measure a broad, coherent construct of peer engagement in criminal and risky activities.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report psychological scale used within a comprehensive youth survey.

Format: 8 items utilizing a 5-point Likert-type frequency scale.

Language Available: English (Original administration).

Population Group: Adolescents and Young Adults.

Age Group: 12 to 24 years old.

Population Details: A randomly selected sample of 1,890 youth residing in Denver, Colorado, participated in the initial phase.

Test Methodology: Respondents are instructed to report the number of their friends who have engaged in specific delinquent behavior over the last year. Response categories are weighted from 0 (None of them) to 4 (All of them). Scores are summed across the eight items and then divided by the total number of items, yielding a mean score ranging from 0 to 4. A higher score signifies a greater association with delinquent peers.

Keywords

Denver, Colorado, Longitudinal study, Risk factors, Social environment, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, Quantitative survey, Self-report instrument, Youth violence, Deviance.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not applicable (Institutional authorship for the survey instrument).

Affiliation Email addresses: Contact the Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, for official DYS inquiries.

Correspondence Address: Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Friends’ Delinquent Behavior scale is part of the publicly accessible methodology and instruments utilized in the Denver Youth Survey, which is a major academic research initiative. The core interview schedule and methodology for this specific instrument were first developed and documented in 1987.

Use of the instrument for academic research purposes is generally permitted, provided that researchers grant appropriate citation and acknowledgement to the original source materials and the Institute of Behavioral Sciences. The original PDF compendium detailing this instrument can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf

Test Year: 1987 (Development and initial administration).

Reference’s

• Institute of Behavioral Sciences. Youth Interview Schedule: Denver Youth Survey. Boulder, CO: University of Colorado, 1987.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The instrument can be found on pages 212-213.

Items of the Friends’ Delinquent Behavior—Denver Youth Survey

Scoring Key:

• All of them = 4

• Most of them = 3

• Some of them = 2

• Very few of them = 1

• None of them = 0

Values are summed and divided by the total number of items (8) for each respondent. Intended range is 0–4, with a higher score indicating greater association with (or exposure to) delinquent behavior by close friends.

During the last year how many of your friends have …

1. Purposely damaged or destroyed property that did not belong to them?

2. Hit or threatened to hit someone?

3. Used alcohol?

4. Sold drugs?

5. Gotten drunk once in a while?

6. Carried a knife or a gun?

7. Got into a physical fight?

8. Been hurt in a fight?