Does the effect of impulsivity on delinquency vary by level of neighborhood disadvantage?

The authors examine the importance of the person-context nexus in adolescent deviance. Using the nationally representative National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health) data set of more than 20, 000 male and female adolescents, the authors are interested in testing whether the relationship between impulsivity and a variety of deviance measures varies as a function of neighborhood disadvantage. Results suggest that whereas levels of impulsivity and deviance vary by level of neighborhood disadvantage, relationships between impulsivity and deviance do not. This same finding is made for both male and female study participants, though there is some modest evidence of moderation in female youth. Together, these results have important implications for social disorganization theory, the general theory of crime, and for personality research on the etiology of crime and deviance.