RT Article
T1 Continuous versus Categorical Models of Delinquency Risk
JF American journal of criminal justice
VO 39
IS 3
SP 395
OP 410
A1 Walters, Glenn D. 1954-
LA English
YR 2014
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764202708
AB Two groups of participants, one a nationally representative sample with roughly equal numbers of male and female participants ( N = 8,984) and the other a sample of mostly male adjudicated delinquents ( N = 1,354), were used to test whether risk factors for delinquency are organized continuously or categorically. A continuous (variable-centered) model was created using factor scores from a one-factor confirmatory factor analysis and a categorical (person-centered) model was constructed using posterior probabilities from a two-class finite mixture modeling analysis. In both samples the continuous model correlated significantly better with subsequent offending than did the categorical model, a finding that was replicated in males from both samples and in females from the nationally representative sample. The current findings suggest that risk factors are better construed as points along a continuum rather than as properties of distinct groups or types. These results further suggest that the etiology of offending, in the form of risk factors, is general/additive rather than specific/selective. The implications of these results for theory development, clinical practice, and future research are discussed.
K1 Delinquency
K1 risk factors
K1 Categorical
K1 Continuous
DO 10.1007/s12103-013-9235-1