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

The present study tested the hypothesis that perceived self-efficacy to resist peer pressure for high-risk activities is related to transgressive conduct, both directly and through the mediation of open familial communication. Adolescents rated their self-regulatory efficacy, openness of communication with parents, and their involvement in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. Results of structural equation modeling confirmed that a high sense of efficacy to ward off negative peer influences was accompanied by open communication with parents about activities outside the home and by low engagement in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. Both the posited direct and mediated paths of influences were replicated for males and females, although girls exhibited a slightly weaker direct relationship between self-regulatory efficacy and transgressive conduct. The combined influence of self-regulatory efficacy and supportive parental communication and monitoring accounted for a substantial share of the variance in delinquent conduct and substance abuse. A test of an alternative causal model, that engagement in transgressive activities undermines self-regulatory efficacy and familial communication and monitoring practices, provided a poor fit to the data.