Abstract
This study examines individual, family and neighbourhood level effects on antisocial behaviour (ASB) among young people. The prime concern of this study is identifying neighbourhood level factors that significantly explain ASB and examining their interactions with the individual and familial determinants of ASB. A sample of 9,457 young people in England and Wales (aged 14) drawn from the sixth sweep of the Millennium Cohort Study is used to answer the research questions. The dependent variable, ASB, is measured both as count and categorical variables and a series of multilevel multinomial logistic and multilevel Poisson regression analyses are then conducted to examine individual, family and neighbourhood level effects on ASB.The findings indicate that several factors contribute to the ASB among young people. These include first and foremost markers of individual level factors (i.e., gender, illegal drug use, etc.) but also the effects of friends and family (i.e., drug taking friends, household income, parental supervision, etc.) and the impact of neighbourhood conditions (i.e., unemployment rate and housing and health deprivation). Both multilevel multinomial logistic and multilevel Poisson regression analysis results present that likelihoods of ASB are more prevalent among the young people who live in areas with high level of housing and health deprivation. Moreover, cross-level interaction results show that individual and family level characteristics’ effects on ASB among the young people are altered by the characteristics of the neighbourhood they live. These findings suggest that youth policies and programmes that aim to reduce ASB should include interventions that not only better support for young people and their families, but also improve the material conditions of the neighbourhoods young people live. In addition, the results further emphasise the need for different policy responses and programmes to tackle ASB considering the unique conditions of the neighbourhoods where young people live.
| Date of Award | 21 Mar 2023 |
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| Original language | English |
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| Supervisor | Eldin Fahmy (Supervisor) & Jo Staines (Supervisor) |