Impact of Adolescents' Perceived Self-Regulatory Efficacy on Familial Communication and Antisocial Conduct

The present study tested the hypothesis that perceived self-efficacy to\r\nresist peer pressure for high-risk activities is related to transgressive conduct,\r\nboth directly and through the mediation of open familial communication.\r\nAdolescents rated their self-regulatory efficacy, openness of communication\r\nwith parents, and their involvement in delinquent conduct\r\nand substance abuse. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed\r\nthat a high sense of efficacy to ward off negative peer influences was\r\naccompanied by open communication with parents about activities outside\r\nthe home and by low engagement in delinquent conduct and sub-\r\nKeywords: Self-efficacy, familial communication, antisocial conduct.\r\nstance abuse. Both the posited direct and mediated paths of influences\r\nwere replicated for males and females, although girls exhibited a slightly\r\nweaker direct relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and transgressive\r\nconduct. The combined influence of self-regulatory efficacy and supportive\r\nparental communication and monitoring accounted for a substantial\r\nshare of the variance in delinquent conduct and substance abuse.\r\nA test of an alternative causal model, that engagement in transgressive\r\nactivities undermines self-regulatory efficacy and familial communication\r\nand monitoring practices, provided a poor fit to the data.