Risk and protective factors in adolescent behaviour

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Risk and protective factors
in adolescent behaviour
DATE
May 12, 2021
VENUE
ESRI, Whitaker Square,
Sir John Rogerson’s Quay,
Dublin 2
AUTHOR
Emer Smyth, Merike Darmody

2 12 May 2021
Acknowledgements
• Minister
• Research partnership with the Department of
Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and
Youth (DCEDIY)
• Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) Study Team
• GUI young people and their families

3 12 May 2021
Background to the study

4 12 May 2021
Introduction
Use Growing Up in Ireland Cohort ‘98 data to examine:
1. What patterns of (mis)behaviour are found among
young people at 9, 13 and 17 years of age?
2. To what extent do these patterns relate to differences in
family resources (social class, parental education and
household income)?
3. To what extent does adolescent behaviour reflect the
social mix of the school?
4. To what extent does adolescent behaviour reflect the
social composition of the neighbourhood?
5. What family, peer, school and neighbourhood factors
help to reduce the incidence of behaviour difficulties
among young people?

5 12 May 2021
Adolescent behaviour
Domain Type of behaviour
Family • Externalising difficulties (acting out)
• Internalising difficulties (emotional and peer
problems)
• Prosocial behaviour (interaction with others)
School • School-based misbehaviour
• Truancy
Neighbourhood • Anti-social behaviour (ASB)
Family behaviour is reported by the young person’s mother;
school and neighbourhood behaviours by the young person themselves

6 12 May 2021
Overall pattern
• Low levels of behaviour difficulties at 9, 13 and 17
years of age
• Few young people consistently ‘act out’ at home,
at school and in the community – importance of
understanding behaviour in context
• Stability and change in difficulties over time: early
difficulties are a signal of later difficulties but, for
most, behaviour difficulties are temporary
• More stable – externalising difficulties; less stable –
anti-social behaviour

7 12 May 2021
Gender and family background

8 12 May 2021
Gender differences in internalising difficulties
0.0
0.5
1.0
1.5
2.0
2.5
3.0
3.5
4.0
4.5
9 years 13 years 17 years
Male Female
Males more externalising, anti-social and school (mis)behaviour and
females more internalising difficulties but also more prosocial behaviour

9 12 May 2021
Socio-economic background
• Multidimensional approach: social class, parental
education, household income, family structure
• Complex picture re behaviour and disadvantage
• Lower education levels among mothers linked to
externalising and internalising difficulties but not to
ASB or school-based behaviour
• Financial strain related to externalising,
internalising and school (mis)behaviour
• Lone parent or separated families – poorer
behaviour outcomes across domains, not
accounted for by financial strain or social
class/parental education

10 12 May 2021
School influences

11 12 May 2021
Schools or neighbourhoods?
• In many countries, almost all young people attend their
local school, making it hard to distinguish between the
effects of the school they attend and the neighbourhood
they live in
• In Ireland, around ½ of those in second-level education
do not attend their nearest (or most accessible) school
• So there is no simple mapping between school and
neighbourhood
• Use cross-classified multilevel models to distinguish
school and neighbourhood effects, showing how much
behaviour varies across schools and neighbourhoods

12 12 May 2021
Variation between schools
• Significant variation between individual schools in
school-based misbehaviour, truancy, internalising
difficulties and prosocial behaviour, even taking
account of family background
• Little difference by school gender mix but lower
misbehaviour in single-sex (especially girls’) schools
and lower truancy rates in girls’ schools
• Significant variation by school social mix: second-
level – DEIS, fee-paying, non-DEIS; primary – Urban
Band 1 DEIS v. others

13 12 May 2021
Net effect of school social mix: behaviour at home
(compared to non-DEIS schools)
0
0.1
0.2
0.3
0.4
0.5
0.6
0.7
0.8
0.9
1
DEIS Urban Band 1 DEIS Urban Band 1 DEIS Urban Band 1
Externalising Internalising Prosocial

14 12 May 2021
Net effect of school social mix: behaviour at school and in
the community (compared with non-DEIS schools)
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
1.2
1.4
1.6
DEIS Urban Band
1
DEIS Fee-paying Urban Band
1
DEIS Fee-paying Urban Band
1
School behaviour Truancy (odds ratios) ASB

15 12 May 2021
Neighbourhood influences

16 12 May 2021
Variation between neighbourhoods
• More variation between schools than
neighbourhoods
• Little systematic variation by socio-economic
profile of neighbourhood (SAPS composite scale),
except more externalising difficulties in most
disadvantaged areas
• Some effect of living in a large city or small town
• Perceived neighbourhood disorder linked to
externalising, internalising and prosocial behaviour
• Concern about local gangs linked to ASB

17 12 May 2021
Risk and protective factors

18 12 May 2021
Family factors
• Conflict with parents +
• Positive relationships less significant (less
variation) but were associated with more
prosocial behaviour and lower truancy rates
• Parental monitoring -

19 12 May 2021
Peer factors
• Large friendship group – protection
(internalising) and risk (externalising, ASB,
school behaviour)
• Older friends as a risk factor +
• Trust in friends -
• Alienation from friends +

20 12 May 2021
School factors
• Positive interaction with teachers as protective -
• Negative interaction with teachers as risk +
• School disengagement +
• Engagement with school subjects -
• Academic performance -

21 12 May 2021
Neighbourhood factors
• Strong protective effect of having an adult to
talk to (at home, school or in the community) -
• Safe place to hang out and, to some extent,
access to facilities -
• Involvement in structured sports -

22 12 May 2021
Conclusions

23 12 May 2021
Implications for policy
• We need to understand adolescent behaviour in context and how
behaviour reacts to different risk and protective factors
• Need to take a holistic approach to youth mental health and wellbeing
(Sharing the Vision); importance of early prevention but also specialist
supports for those with more severe difficulties (to avoid longer-term
problems)
• Schools as an arena for intervention as well as an influence; wellbeing
in the curriculum; school climate; school (dis)engagement
• Professional development for teachers and other professionals
working with children and young people
• Resources and supports for DEIS schools
• Financial strain – broader anti-poverty strategy
• Impact of the pandemic and related restrictions on youth mental
health makes a policy response all the more urgent

Risk and protective factors in adolescent behaviour

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