| Publications [#344830] of Terrie E. Moffitt
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- Caspi, A; Lynam, D; Moffitt, TE; Silva, PA "Unraveling girls’ delinquency: Biological, dispositional, and contextual contributions to adolescent misbehavior." Risks and Problem Behaviors in Adolescence. January, 2014: 293-304.
(last updated on 2025/06/16)
Abstract: We examined processes linking biological and behavioral changes in different contexts during adolescence by studying an unselected cohort of New Zealand girls from childhood through adolescence when they entered either mixed-sex or all-girl secondary schools. The impact of menarcheal timing on female delinquency was moderated by the sex composition of schools: early-maturing girls in mixed-sex settings were at greatest risk for delinquency. Individual differences in delinquency were also significantly more stable among girls in mixed-sex schools than among those in all-girl schools. These contextual variations are interpreted in terms of the differential distribution of reinforcements and opportunities for delinquency.
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