UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI

Approximately 2.2 million youth were arrested in 2003. They accounted for 12% of all violent arrests, including murders, rapes, robberies, and aggravated assaults (Snyder, 2005). Sixty percent of all court-involved youth experience mental health problems, including personality disorders (MacKinnon-Lewis et al., 2002). Symptoms of borderline and antisocial personalities are more common among offenders than the general population (McCord et al., 2001). However, not all youth displaying personality traits common among offenders participate in illegal activities. This suggests another variable might influence the relationship between personality and delinquency. For instance, children living in homes with substance abusers display higher rates of delinquency than other children (Sheridan, 1995). Familial beliefs and behaviors in support of antisocial behavior are also strongly correlated with delinquency (Gorman-Smith et al., 1998). Such factors might moderate the relationship between personality and delinquency. This investigation examined relationships among personality characteristics, parental and sibling substance abuse and criminal behavior, and delinquent behavior for 308 urban male youth, ages 13 to 17. The main research question was whether specific personality characteristics predicted serious delinquent behavior. Two hypotheses were also proposed: (1) parental and sibling history of substance use would moderate the relationship between personality characteristics and severity of delinquent offenses (i.e., level of offense) and (2) parental and sibling history of criminal behavior would moderate the relationship between personality characteristics and severity of delinquent offenses. The MACI (Millon, 1993) was used to measure personality characteristics. The Adolescent Parent/Guardian Questionnaire was Personality, Family, and Delinquency used to gather information regarding parental and sibling substance use and criminal behavior. Official court records were used to retrieve level of offense. Results from multigroup invariance analyses supported Hypotheses 1 and 2, indicating that parental and sibling history of substance use and criminal behavior moderate the relationship between negativistic and borderline personality characteristics and serious offending. Results revealed a direct relationship between these personality characteristics and severity of offense for youth with parental and sibling histories of both substance use and criminal behavior. Interestingly, results suggested an inverse relationship between these personality characteristics and severity of offense for the group with neither histories of substance use or criminal behavior. Personality, Family, and Delinquency Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank God for providing me with the opportunity to pursue my educational and career goals. I would also like to express sincere gratitude to my astounding mentor, research and clinical supervisor, and dissertation chair, A. Kathleen Burlew, Ph.D. Not only has Dr. Burlew offered sound advice throughout the preparation of both my thesis and dissertation, but she has always been dedicated to providing unwavering support throughout my experiences as a graduate student. In addition, I want to thank my committee members Kenneth Ghee, Ph.D., Edward Klein, Ph.D., and Laura Nabors, Ph.D., who all have offered me genuine encouragement throughout my graduate endeavors. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge consultant Laura Klem, Ph.D. for her help with the statistical analyses for this investigation. I also want to thank Brian Griffiths for his assistance in preparing the dataset utilized for this research and for granting me permission to use it for my dissertation. Finally, I would like to recognize my family and friends for their motivation, enthusiasm, and moral support as I pursue my career as a Child Psychologist. Personality, Family, and Delinquency i TABLE OF CONTENTS Page TABLE OF CONTENTS.i LIST OF FIGURES . ii LIST OF TABLES.ii