Disrupting the Link between Exposure to Violence and Adolescent Delinquency: The Protective Role of Expectations about the Future

Exposure to violence significantly influences adolescent delinquency, posing a critical public health concern. We examine the moderating role of expectations about the future in this context, particularly whether their impact differs between minor and severe delinquency. Analyzing data from the fifth wave of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being (n = 1,272), we employed hierarchical linear regression and the PROCESS macro. Our findings reveal that exposure to violence is positively associated with delinquency; meanwhile, expectations about the future are negatively associated with adolescent delinquency. Positive expectations about the future significantly mitigate the impact of exposure to violence on adolescent delinquency across both severity categories. We underscore the necessity of fostering positive expectations about the future to prevent delinquency, advocating for strength-based intervention strategies for at-risk adolescents. Exposure to violence increases both minor and severe adolescent delinquency. Positive future expectations are associated with lower levels of delinquency. Future expectations mitigate the impact of violence exposure on delinquency. The protective effect is consistent across delinquency severity levels.