Values and antisocial behaviour during adolescence: The mediating and moderating roles of exposure to violence and moral cognitions

The present dissertation is composed by three independent studies. The first study aimed at testing the psychometric properties of the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ; Schwartz et al., 2001) on a sample of Italian early adolescents, both to extend the validity of the Italian version of the PVQ and to examine the structure of values in early adolescence. 407 adolescents, aged fourteen years old, participated in the study. A first-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis to test the 10 factors model and a second-order Confirmatory Factor Analysis to test the model that includes the four higher order value dimensions were performed. The results supported the adequate psychometric properties of the instrument, in line with previous validation studies of the PVQ on adult samples, and revealed that in early adolescence the structure of values is well developed and very similar to that of adults; the only found difference was the impossibility to distinguish between the values of conformity and tradition. The second study aimed at investigating the impact of the selected values of universalism, conformity, power, and hedonism, and the impact of exposure to violence as a witness or a victim in different contexts (family, school, and neighborhood) on antisocial behaviour. In addition, the moderating role of exposure to violence was tested. 453 adolescents participated in the study. Three hierarchical multiple regression analyses were performed, one for every context of violence exposure. Results revealed that antisocial behaviour was independently affected by power, conformity, hedonism, exposure to family violence as a victim, and exposure to school and community violence as both a witness and a victim. Some interactions had statistically significant effects. The results highlight that exposure to violence and values explain a high percentage of variance of antisocial behaviour, and suggest the importance of adopting a socio-ecological framework to understand adolescents’ behaviour. The third study aimed at longitudinally examining the impact of values on antisocial behaviour, during adolescence. In addition, the mediating roles of moral disengagement and of the judgement of seriousness about antisocial behaviours were tested. 264 adolescents participated in the study. The administration of the questionnaires took place in three Time points. Four longitudinal cross-lagged models were performed, one for each higher order value dimension. Results revealed that self-transcendence and conservation had an impact over time on both moral cognitions and antisocial behaviours; self-enhancement had only a weak longitudinal impact on moral cognitions; openness to change did not result to have any longitudinal effect on the variables under study. As for the mediating effects, the judgement of seriousness resulted to weakly mediate the impact of both self-transcendence and conservation on antisocial behaviours; other two interesting effects emerged, in which antisocial behaviour mediated the impact over time of conservation both on the judgment of seriousness and on moral disengagement. Together, the results highlight the fundamental role of self-transcendence and conservation as protective factors against antisocial behaviours in adolescence.