Gender differences in antisocial behavior depend on population context
Evidence from community and juvenile justice samples in Spain
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22420439 |
|---|---|
| Authors | María Álvarez-Voces (0000-0003-0675-5538, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, corresponding author), Lorena Maneiro (0000-0002-2162-8281, Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL)), Olalla Cutrín (0000-0001-8605-6694, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), Emilia Romero (0000-0002-9239-2544, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela), José Antonio Gómez Fraguela (0000-0002-9140-1533, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-27 |
| Publication date | 2026-07-13 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychology, Crime & Law (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1068-316X • E-ISSN: 1477-2744 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/1068316x.2026.2700781 |
| OpenAlex | W7168122012 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 68 |
Most evidence on gender differences in antisocial behavior comes from community samples, and it remains unclear whether these patterns generalize to higher risk contexts. This cross-sectional comparative study examined whether gender differences in antisocial behavior (aggressive and non-aggressive forms) and related factors are context dependent by comparing community adolescents and juvenile justice adolescents in Spain. Environmental factors (family support, parental knowledge, and antisocial peers) and individual traits (impulsivity facets, empathy, and hostility/anger) were assessed. The sample included 1,339 participants aged 13–21 years, comprising 679 adolescents who have committed a crime (20.9% girls) and 660 community adolescents (59.4% girls). Multivariate analyses examined whether patterns of gender differences varied as a function of sample type. Significant gender by sample interactions emerged for key individual risk factors, with girls in the juvenile justice system showing higher levels of emotional impulsivity and hostility/anger than boys, a pattern that contrasts with that typically observed in community samples. These findings indicate that gender differences in antisocial behavior are context-dependent rather than stable across samples.
Economic Justice · Juvenile · Juvenile delinquency · Population · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
Sex Differences in Antisocial Behaviour
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
A Meta-analysis of Attachment to Parents and Delinquency
The high societal costs of childhood conduct problems
Disorders of Childhood and Adolescence
Interaction between conduct disorder and its comorbid conditions
Research Review
Development and validation of the Basic Empathy Scale
The Relationship Between Parenting and Delinquency
Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior
Gender-Based Psychosocial Differences in a Sample of Young Offenders
Sex differences in psychiatric comorbidity and clinical presentation in youths with conduct disorder
Positive and negative urgency as a single coherent construct
Peer influence, friend selection, and gender
Adolescence, Empathy, and the Gender Gap in Delinquency
The Differential Relations of Maternal and Paternal Support and Control to Adolescent Social Competence, Self-Worth, and Sympathy
Parsing Heterogeneity
Developmental trajectories of childhood disruptive behaviors and adolescent delinquency
What parents know, how they know it, and several forms of adolescent adjustment
Antisocial peer affiliation and externalizing disorders in the transition from adolescence to young adulthood
Male antisocial behaviour in adolescence and beyond
Attachment insecurity and dispositional aggression
Age and the Explanation of Crime
Protective factors against juvenile delinquency
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |