Perceived Best Friend Delinquency Moderates the Link between Contextual Risk Factors and Juvenile Delinquency.

The current study evaluated the effects of contextual risk factors (i.e., negative life events and neighborhood problems) and perceived best friend delinquency on child self-reported delinquency. More specifically, the present study extended the literature by evaluating whether best friend delinquency moderated the effects of contextual risk factors on self-reported delinquency in a community-recruited sample of 147 school-aged children (mean age = 8.22 years, standard deviation = 1.99; 54% male). Indeed, perceived best friend delinquency moderated these associations; however, the effect of best friend delinquency depended on the contextual risk factor. Findings and their implications are discussed.