Parental Attitudes Toward Antisocial Behavior — Seattle Social Development Project

Abstract

The Parental Attitudes Toward Antisocial Behavior scale, developed within the framework of the Seattle Social Development Project (SSDP), is a concise measurement instrument designed to assess adolescent perceptions of their parents’ disapproval of specific deviant acts. This three-item scale quantifies the extent to which youth believe their parents view behaviors such as stealing, fighting, and vandalism as “wrong.” The resultant score functions as a critical indicator of parental monitoring and clear normative expectations, which are highly regarded as protective factors against youth involvement in high-risk behaviors and subsequent delinquency.

Keywords

Parental attitudes, antisocial behavior, Seattle Social Development Project, protective factors, juvenile delinquency, youth assessment, high risk behavior, perceived parental disapproval.

Authors

Arthur MW, Hawkins JD, Pollard JA, Catalano RF, Baglioni AJ.

Purpose

The primary purpose of this scale is to gauge the perceived level of parental disapproval regarding specific acts of deviance and high-risk behavior commonly associated with adolescence. Understanding an adolescent’s perception of parental norms is crucial because these perceptions often mediate the influence of peers and environmental risk factors.

The measurement of this construct is essential in evaluating the efficacy of community-based prevention programs, such as the Communities That Care (CTC) initiative, which seek to strengthen family bonds and establish clear, consistent anti-drug and anti-crime standards. Higher scores on this measure indicate a stronger protective environment, correlating with positive developmental trajectories and reduced rates of problem behaviors.

Construct

The scale measures the psychological construct of Perceived Parental Disapproval of Deviance. This construct is central to social development models, asserting that youths who perceive strong, consistent parental opposition to antisocial behavior are less likely to engage in those behaviors themselves. The specific behaviors targeted—theft, graffiti, and fighting—represent common manifestations of early-onset delinquency.

In the context of the SSDP, this construct is treated as a protective factor, mitigating the impact of various risk factors (e.g., poor academic performance, association with deviant peers). The strength of this protective factor is quantified by the average score, reflecting the perceived severity of parental sanctioning across multiple domains of misbehavior.

Validity

While a standalone validity coefficient for this brief, three-item measure is often not reported independently, its validity is established through its inclusion in larger, well-validated instruments like the Communities That Care Youth Survey (CTCYS). The scale exhibits strong predictive validity, consistently demonstrating a significant inverse relationship with future adolescent outcomes, including substance abuse initiation, violence, and criminal involvement.

Specifically, research stemming from the SSDP and related longitudinal studies confirms that perceived parental disapproval acts as a robust predictor of reduced delinquency, supporting the scale’s construct validity within a social development framework. The content validity is supported by the selection of items representing core externalizing and high-risk behaviors relevant to the target youth population.

Reliability

Due to the brevity of the scale (three items), traditional measures of internal consistency (like Cronbach’s Alpha) may be slightly attenuated compared to longer scales. However, when assessed as part of the broader protective factor indices within the CTCYS, the measure generally demonstrates acceptable reliability. The stability of the measure over short periods has been shown to be adequate, reflecting consistent adolescent perceptions of parental attitudes across critical developmental stages.

Factor Analysis

The scale is typically treated as a single-factor measure representing the overarching construct of parental disapproval of deviance. Factor analysis performed on the full battery of protective factors within the SSDP often confirms that these three items load strongly onto a single factor related to family norms or parental expectations. The simplicity of the measure makes complex factor structures unnecessary, focusing instead on maximizing predictive power through straightforward aggregation.

Instrument

Test Type: Self-report inventory (measuring youth perception of parental attitudes)

Format: Brief, 3-item Likert-type scale

Language Available: Primarily English; translated versions may exist for use in broader CTC studies.

Population Group: Adolescents and Youth

Age Group: Typically utilized with middle school and high school students (e.g., ages 11–18)

Population Details: Developed and validated within cohorts participating in the Seattle Social Development Project, focusing on urban populations and youths identified as being at moderate to high risk for behavioral problems.

Test Methodology: Survey administration (paper-and-pencil or computerized). Respondents are asked to rate how wrong their parents would feel about them engaging in specific behaviors using a four-point response scale.

Keywords

Parental expectations, developmental prevention, protective environment, adolescent risk, SSDP, Communities That Care, perceived deviance, antisocial behavior.

Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: Not specified in source material; information varies by author.

Affiliation Email addresses: Not specified in source material.

Correspondence Address: Correspondence is typically directed toward the primary investigators of the SSDP, particularly J. David Hawkins or Richard F. Catalano, affiliated with the University of Washington Social Development Research Group.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale is generally considered a publicly available instrument developed for academic and prevention research purposes, often utilized without fee within the context of federally funded prevention research (e.g., CDC, SAMHSA). The specific items are widely disseminated in compendiums of youth assessment tools.

Test Year: The items are part of the broader assessment battery used in the Seattle Social Development Project, which began in the 1980s. The specific version cited in the reference was utilized in the development of the Communities That Care Youth Survey, published around 2002.

Reference’s

The scale instrument and scoring information are detailed in the following publications and resources:

1. Arthur MW, Hawkins JD, Pollard JA, Catalano RF, Baglioni AJ. Measuring risk and protective factors for substance use, delinquency, and other adolescent problem behaviors: the communities That Care Youth Survey. Evaluation Review 2002;26(6):575- 601.
2. The instrument can be found on page 303 of Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Behaviors, and Influences Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. The original PDF can be downloaded here: http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/YV_Compendium.pdf
3. Additional related materials detailing the Communities That Care assessment methodology are available here: http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content/CTC020/CTC020.pdf

Items of the Parental Attitudes Toward Antisocial Behavior —Seattle Social Development Project

IMPORTANT: The following scale items must be preserved in their original language and must not be changed in any way.

How wrong do your parents feel it would be for you to …

1. Steal anything worth more than $5?
2. Draw graffiti‚ or write things or draw pictures on buildings or other property (without the owner’s permission)?
3. Pick a fight with someone?

Point values are assigned as follows:

• Very wrong = 4
• Wrong = 3
• A little bit wrong = 2
• Not wrong at all = 1

Point values are summed and then divided by the total number of items. Higher scores indicate greater parental concern about antisocial behavior.