The impact of adolescent and parental characteristics on adolescent levels of delinquency and depression

Using a cross-sectional design, we examined the effects of adolescent and parental characteristics on depression and delinquency among a sample of Australian high school students. The sample comprised 276 students (median age=15 years) and 274 biological parents of these students. The characteristics measured included adolescent reports of their personality and perceptions of parental bonding as well as parental reports of their own parenting styles and personality. As expected, depression and delinquency scores were significantly correlated, although the significant predictors of these outcome measures were found to be quite distinct. Adolescent personality scores were the strongest predictors of the outcome measures, although fathers' personality and parenting styles were also found to be implicated in adolescent adjustment. These results are discussed with reference to previous work in this area.