Rizvan, Marina.
(2013).
Relationship between peer attachment and delinquentand risk-taking behaviors.
Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Psychology.
[mentor Keresteš, Gordana].
Abstract
In adolescence, friendship is one of the most important relationships in life of an individual. Recently, psychologists have been trying to explore the role of attachment in the psychological adjustment of the individual. Adolescents are often engaged in various forms of risks and delinquent behaviors, so the aim of this study was to examine their relation to the peer attachment. The study investigates the gender differences in peer attachment and various forms of risky and delinquent behavior, and their relations. The study also examines the contribution of peer attachment, gender and type of school to individual differences of the participants in various forms of risky and delinquent behaviors as well as in the overall extent of these behaviors. The participants were 120 boys and 152 girls attending third grade of two high schools, gymnasium and graphic school. Data were collected by Peer Attachment Questionnaire (Kamenov & Jelić, 2003) and Youth Self-Reported Delinquency and Risk Behaviors Questionnaire (Ajduković, Ručević, Šincek, 2009).
The study showed that boys are more likely to avoid peer relationships and that girls are more likely to be anxious in their peer relationships. Boys are also more prone to most forms of risky and delinquent behaviors and have higher results on an overall measure of these behaviors. Gender differences were not found in the subscale of violence in intimate relationships and risky sexual behavior in the subsample of sexually active participants. Graphic school pupils, in comparison to gymnasium pupils, engage in more risky sexual behavior, drug abuse, and are generally more prone to all forms of delinquency and risk behaviors. They also reported lower anxiety in peer attachment. Gender, type of school, avoidance and anxiety significantly explain the variance of most forms of risky and delinquent behaviors as well as the variance of the total extent of these behaviors , except for the subscales of violence in intimate relationships, and risky sexual behavior in a subsample of sexually active participants. However, gender was the only consistently significant predictor.
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