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Title: Continuous versus Categorical Models of Delinquency Risk
Resulting in 1 citation.
1. Walters, Glenn D.
Continuous versus Categorical Models of Delinquency Risk
American Journal of Criminal Justice 39,3 (September 2014): 395-410.
Also: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12103-013-9235-1
Cohort(s): NLSY97
Publisher: Springer
Keyword(s): Delinquency/Gang Activity; Parent Supervision/Monitoring; School Suspension/Expulsion; Substance Use

Permission to reprint the abstract has not been received from the publisher.

Two groups of participants, one a nationally representative sample with roughly equal numbers of male and female participants (N = 8,984) and the other a sample of mostly male adjudicated delinquents (N = 1,354), were used to test whether risk factors for delinquency are organized continuously or categorically. A continuous (variable-centered) model was created using factor scores from a one-factor confirmatory factor analysis and a categorical (person-centered) model was constructed using posterior probabilities from a two-class finite mixture modeling analysis. In both samples the continuous model correlated significantly better with subsequent offending than did the categorical model, a finding that was replicated in males from both samples and in females from the nationally representative sample. The current findings suggest that risk factors are better construed as points along a continuum rather than as properties of distinct groups or types. These results further suggest that the etiology of offending, in the form of risk factors, is general/additive rather than specific/selective. The implications of these results for theory development, clinical practice, and future research are discussed.
Bibliography Citation
Walters, Glenn D. "Continuous versus Categorical Models of Delinquency Risk." American Journal of Criminal Justice 39,3 (September 2014): 395-410.