Introduction Juvenile delinquency has become an increasing concern in social governance, with the family, particularly the parent-child relationship, playing a central role in adolescent development and preventing antisocial behavior. However, the mechanisms linking parent-child relationships to delinquency, particularly in non-Western contexts, remain insufficiently understood. Methods Using offender data from China's 2019 Recidivism Survey, this study examined whether parent–child relationships were associated with juvenile delinquency, defined as offending between ages 12 and 25. A serial mediation model was employed to test whether this association operated through self-control competence and deviant peer association, and whether the effect of self-control competence on juvenile delinquency differed by gender. Results Results show that parent-child relationships are associated with juvenile delinquency directly and indirectly through self-control competence and deviant peer association. Relative to poor relationships, good and average parent-child relationships are associated with a lower likelihood of juvenile delinquency. Among mediators, deviant peer associations contribute the largest indirect effect. Gender moderation analyses indicate that self-control competence offers stronger protection against delinquency for males. Discussion These findings contribute to integrated understanding of how family dynamics, individual self-regulation, and peer contexts are linked to juvenile delinquency and highlight the importance of supportive parent-child relationships for prevention.
Chen et al. (Thu,) studied this question.