Colonic dysmotility in children with functional constipation and psychiatric and developmental disorders.

The nature of the relationship between self-control and delinquent peer association has been a longstanding topic of debate. One side posits that self-control leads to delinquent peer association (Gottfredson & Hirschi, ) while the other side suggests that engaging with delinquent peers plays a role in the development of one’s self-control (Beaver et al., ; Kuhn & Laird, ). There is also the argument that self-control and delinquent peer association reciprocally influence each other over time (Chapple, ). As these contradictory viewpoints raise important theoretical and practical questions regarding the link between self-control and delinquent peer association, it is necessary to concurrently model self-control as a predictor of delinquent peer association and vice versa. However, few studies have tested this notion (cf., Li et al., ; Huijsmans et al., ). Specifically, prior tests of this bidirectional association have relied on short observation periods, a small number of measurement occasions, and analytic techniques that confound between- and within-individual effects. The present study addresses these gaps to examine the bidirectional relationship of self-control and delinquent peer association over time by utilizing a sample of justice-involved youth who were interviewed at multiple time points over the course of seven years spanning middle to late adolescence. Self-control refers to one’s capacity to resist immediate rewards and consider the long-term consequences of one’s actions (Gottfredson & Hirschi, ). Gottfredson and Hirschi () argued that self-control is the sole explanatory variable of analogous and deviant behaviors, rendering all other factors related to antisocial behavior (e.g., age, race/ethnicity, biological sex, and socioeconomic status (SES)) as spurious in this relationship. Additionally, they contended that all individuals are born lacking self-control, that it is acquired through socialization, is set around ages 10–12, and remains relatively stable from this point in time. Specifically, self-control theory posits that the acquisition of self-control relies heavily on parenting, and largely discounts other sources of socialization as important. To date, research has supported the assertion that parenting plays an influential and robust role in the development of self-control (Li et al., ). However, the possibility that alternative social factors impact the development of self-control has yet to be ruled out (Burt, ; Li et al., ). In fact, one contextual factor that has been identified as important for the development of self-control is peer influence (Huijsmans et al., ). Adolescence is a particularly salient period in which engaging in peer groups plays a critical role in the socialization process (Thornberry, ), and its influence of peers likely increases as youth spend more of their time with friends and away from their parents (Thornberry & Krohn, ). The impact of peer socialization on behavior is well established in the literature (Gallupe et al., ; Giletta et al., ), and research has demonstrated the age-graded effect of peers by showing that this social factor becomes more influential in predicting offending behaviors later in adolescence (Bryson et al., ). Longitudinal research has also found that peer dynamics are associated with later behavioral outcomes. For example, engaging with prosocial peers has been found to reduce subsequent levels of reactive aggression across time (Tu et al., ). Research has also suggested that the longitudinal associations between one’s own delinquent behavior and the delinquency of one’s peers is mutually reinforcing over time and follows similar patterns of development (Kim & Lee, ).