Self-control and social control in childhood misconduct and aggression: The role of family structure, hyperactivity, and hostile parenting

Debates about the causes of childhood misconduct have juxtaposed the utility of self-control models which stress persistent traits of impulsiveness versus social control models which stress the benefits of social capital arising from attachments to family and community over the life cycle. To test the value of these approaches with population data, we examined models of misconduct and aggression in children aged 4 to 11 using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth (n = 13,067). We establish that structural, individual, and process variables contribute individually and significantly to both aggression and misconduct. Childhood hyperactivity and hostile parenting each appear to elevate significantly the risks of youthful aggression and misconduct. The proposition that self-control versus social control perspectives are mutually exclusive is rejected. Aversive parenting practices as well as individual traits contribute to child behavior problems in every age cohort tested. Such aversive traits in parents and their children appear to coincide. Further work is needed to determine the direction of effect.