Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale

Abstract

The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale is a psychometric instrument developed by the Social Development Research Group (SDRG) at the University of Washington as an integral component of the Communities That Care Youth Survey (CTC-YS) and the Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors (SSRPF). Designed primarily for epidemiological surveillance, prevention science, and clinical developmental screening among adolescents in grades 6 through 12 (ages 11 to 18), the instrument quantifies an individual's exposure to and affiliation with peer networks engaged in overt rule-breaking, school disengagement, criminal infractions, and severe externalizing behaviors. The scale consists of six operational items that assess observable, delinquent conduct within the respondent’s closest social circle, specifically circumscribed to their four best friends over the preceding 12-month period. Each item employs a 5-point ordinal response format ranging from 0 ("None of my friends") to 4 ("4 of my friends"), producing an aggregate continuous score reflective of peer deviance immersion. Extensive psychometric evaluations across statewide epidemiological cohorts have demonstrated robust internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients typically ranging from α = .78 to .86. Confirmatory factor analytic investigations consistently confirm a unidimensional factor structure characterized by strong standardized factor loadings (λ = .58 to .84) and exemplary goodness-of-fit indices. The instrument demonstrates robust convergent validity with concurrent self-reported substance misuse, violent conduct, and delinquency, as well as predictive validity for subsequent criminal justice system involvement and educational non-completion. By grounding item formulations in concrete behavioral indicators rather than subjective reputation metrics, the scale mitigates shared method variance and social projection biases, serving as an indispensable assessment tool for school-based behavioral health interventions, community-level prevention profiling, and juvenile justice diversion planning.

Keywords

antisocial peers, peer contagion, juvenile delinquency, Communities That Care, Social Development Strategy, risk and protective factors, adolescent externalizing behavior, psychometrics, school suspension, youth violence

Authors

The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale was conceptualized and empirically validated by principal investigators and research scientists affiliated with the Social Development Research Group (SDRG) within the School of Social Work at the University of Washington (Seattle, Washington, United States). Key figures responsible for the development, psychometric standardization, and longitudinal validation of the instrument and its parent batteries (the Communities That Care Youth Survey and the Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors) include:

• J. David Hawkins, Ph.D. — Endowed Professor Emeritus of Prevention and Founding Director of the Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington.
• Richard F. Catalano, Ph.D. — Professor Emeritus and Co-founder of the Social Development Research Group, School of Social Work, University of Washington.
• Michael W. Arthur, Ph.D. — Research Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology and Social Development Research Group, University of Washington.
• Sabrina Oesterle, Ph.D. — Research Associate Professor, Social Development Research Group, University of Washington (presently at Arizona State University).

Institutional Contact & Physical Address:
Social Development Research Group
University of Washington, School of Social Work
9725 3rd Ave. NE, Suite 401
Seattle, WA 98115-2024, USA
Telephone: +1 (206) 685-3858
Official Institutional Repository: Social Development Research Group (SDRG)

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale is to provide a standardized, psychometrically sound, and behaviorally specific metric of an adolescent's direct interpersonal immersion in deviant peer networks. Across the developmental trajectory of adolescence, peer networks supersede family systems as primary socialization agents, exertive modeling mechanisms, and reinforcers of behavior. Affiliation with deviant or antisocial peers represents one of the single most robust and replicable risk factors in developmental psychopathology for the emergence and escalation of substance use disorders, aggressive conduct, gang affiliation, educational cessation, and formal contact with the legal system. Despite its theoretical prominence, the empirical assessment of peer deviance has historically suffered from methodological artifacts, including projection bias (wherein adolescents project their own delinquent acts onto ambiguous peer descriptions) and broad, nebulous querying of acquaintances. The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale was deliberately engineered to resolve these psychometric limitations by anchoring inquiries to concrete delinquent milestones and bounding the target peer ecology to the individual's four closest friends.

In clinical, educational, and prevention contexts, the instrument serves multiple interrelated objectives:

• Epidemiological Surveillance and Needs Assessment: Embedded within statewide administrations of the Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors and public health surveillance platforms supported by the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), the scale allows municipal school districts, public health coalitions, and state departments of human services to quantify local levels of peer-driven social risk across secondary school cohorts.
• Targeted Intervention Stratification: In clinical child and adolescent psychology, school counseling, and juvenile diversion programs, the scale functions as an essential diagnostic adjunct. By establishing the density of antisocial affiliations, clinicians can differentiate between adolescent-limited conduct problems triggered by situational peer socialization and life-course-persistent patterns requiring intensive individual and systemic family therapies, such as Multisystemic Therapy (MST) or Functional Family Therapy (FFT).
• Longitudinal Outcome and Program Evaluation: The scale enables prevention scientists to assess the intermediary efficacy of evidence-based primary and secondary interventions (such as mentoring programs, social-emotional learning curricula, and prosocial youth development initiatives). A significant down-titration in the Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale score frequently operates as a critical mediating mechanism through which broader reductions in juvenile delinquency and drug initiation are realized.

Psychological Construct

The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale evaluates the psychological and sociological construct of delinquent peer affiliation, conceptualized as the degree of interpersonal closeness, shared social interaction, and observational exposure to close associates who actively engage in normative violation, legal transgressions, and institutional rebellion. Rather than examining subjective attitudes or internal personality traits, the construct operationalizes external, observable behaviors enacted within the microsystem of the peer group. Within the theoretical architecture of the instrument, peer antisocial behavior is organized across six discrete, high-impact behavioral dimensions:

1. Formal Educational Sanctions (School Suspension)

Item 1 captures the presence of friends who have experienced exclusionary school discipline (suspensions). Exclusion from the normative academic environment signifies serious school-based misconduct (such as physical disruption, defiance of authority, or property damage). Exposure to suspended peers removes positive academic socialization and introduces the adolescent to subcultural norms that trivialize institutional detachment and systemic friction.

2. Lethal Weapon Carrying (Handgun Possession)

Item 2 addresses the presence of peers who carry handguns. Within developmental criminology, firearm carriage represents an acute risk marker that elevates normative youth disputes into lethal encounters. Affiliation with armed peers reflects immersion in an escalated violence ecology, altering cognitive appraisals of threat, increasing defensive weapon acquisition, and normalizing lethal physical aggression.

3. Illicit Commercial Enterprise (Drug Dealing)

Item 3 evaluates peer involvement in illicit drug sales. Drug distribution moves beyond recreational substance experimentation, capturing an engagement in organized, black-market commercial enterprises. Affiliation with peers selling drugs exposes the adolescent to criminal networks, transactional violence, and heightened scrutiny from law enforcement personnel.

4. Serious Property Crime and Motor Vehicle Theft

Item 4 examines whether close friends have committed or attempted motor vehicle theft (e.g., cars or motorcycles). In contrast to petty shoplifting, motor vehicle theft is an index felony that requires planning, technical resourcefulness, and a marked disregard for legal statutes and community property boundaries. Associating with car thieves fosters thrill-seeking delinquent reinforcement and collaborative law violation.

5. Formal Legal System Contact (Arrest)

Item 5 assesses the number of best friends who have experienced formal apprehension and arrest by law enforcement. Formal arrest indicates that the peer's antisocial conduct has breached societal thresholds to the point of statutory criminal intervention. Close affiliation with arrested youth serves as a powerful behavioral model of criminal identity, eroding normative deterrence mechanisms and solidifying anti-establishment bonding.

6. Premature Academic Severance (Dropping Out of School)

Item 6 measures the premature cessation of secondary education among close friends. Academic dropout represents the culmination of academic alienation and institutional disengagement. When an adolescent's immediate peer circle disconnects from the educational system, conventional daily routines dissolve, creating substantial unstructured leisure time that facilitates unsupervised delinquent opportunity and removes the protective guardrails provided by school engagement.

Theoretical Framework

The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale is conceptually grounded in three prominent sociological, criminological, and developmental paradigms:

1. The Social Development Model (SDM)

The overarching architecture governing the scale derives from the Social Development Model formulated by J. David Hawkins and Richard F. Catalano. The SDM synthesizes components of social control theory (Hirschi, 1969), differential association theory (Sutherland, 1947), and social learning theory (Bandura, 1977). According to the SDM, behavior is shaped through dynamic socialization processes occurring across four primary socialization domains: family, school, peer group, and community.

The model posits that socialization begins with opportunities for involvement and interaction with others. If youth interact primarily with antisocial peers, they receive differential reinforcement for rule-breaking and model delinquent strategies. Consequently, adolescents develop strong affective bonds (attachment, commitment, and belief) to antisocial socialization units. Once established, these antisocial bonds dictate behavioral trajectories, drastically suppressing the likelihood of conventional prosocial development and accelerating delinquency, chemical dependency, and systemic failure.

2. Differential Association and Social Learning Theories

Edwin Sutherland's Differential Association Theory posits that criminal behavior is learned in interaction with other persons in a process of communication within intimate personal groups. The learning process encompasses techniques of committing crimes, specific motives, drives, rationalizations, and definitions favorable or unfavorable to violations of the law. Albert Bandura's Social Learning Theory and Ronald Akers' Social Learning and Social Structure (SLSS) model further articulate that observing delinquent peer models provides behavioral scripts, vicarious reinforcement, and social rewards (e.g., status, protection, perceived autonomy). The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale directly measures the density of these intimate associations, operationalizing the exact social inputs that fuel differential reinforcement for criminal conduct.

3. Peer Contagion and Deviancy Training Dynamics

In developmental psychopathology, Thomas Dishion and colleagues articulated the mechanism of deviancy training—a contingent, positive interpersonal reaction (such as laughter, validation, and head nodding) provided by peers when an individual discusses rule-breaking or aggressive acts. The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale assesses the contextual prerequisite for deviancy training: being embedded in a peer dyad or group where antisocial themes dominate interpersonal communication. Exposure to four close friends demonstrating index delinquent milestones provides an intense dosage of deviancy training, systematically reinforcing antisocial identity while extinguishing prosocial coping mechanisms.

Validity

The psychometric validity of the Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale has been thoroughly evaluated across multiple large-scale, diverse adolescent samples, including statewide evaluations and randomized controlled trials of prevention programs conducted by the SDRG and independent academic institutions.

Construct and Structural Validity

Construct validity has been demonstrated through structural equation modeling (SEM) and factor analysis, confirming that the six items operate as coherent manifest indicators of a singular latent construct: peer antisocial exposure. Factor loadings are uniformly robust across demographic subgroups, demonstrating measurement invariance across biological sex (male vs. female), racial and ethnic minority groups (White, Black, Hispanic/Latino, Native American, and Asian-Pacific Islander youth), and grade bands (middle school vs. high school). Metric and scalar invariance analyses indicate that the instrument measures the identical psychological construct with equivalent scaling properties across these demographic groups.

Convergent and Discriminant Validity

Convergent validity is evidenced by significant, substantial bivariate correlations between the scale and theoretically aligned risk domains within the Communities That Care framework. Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies consistently report strong positive correlations between the Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale and:

• Self-reported past-30-day and past-year substance use (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, prescription drug misuse; $r = .42$ to $.56$, $p < .001$).
• Self-reported violent and property offenses ($r = .45$ to $.61$, $p < .001$).
• Favorable attitudes toward antisocial behavior ($r = .38$ to $.49$, $p < .001$).
• Gang membership and identification ($r = .35$ to $.52$, $p < .001$).

Conversely, discriminant validity is demonstrated by moderate-to-strong inverse correlations with protective factor constructs, including school commitment ($r = -.31$ to $-.44$, $p < .001$), belief in the moral order ($r = -.36$ to $-.48$, $p < .001$), and opportunities for prosocial involvement within the community ($r = -.22$ to $-.35$, $p < .001$).

Predictive and Criterion Validity

Longitudinal predictive validity has been rigorously demonstrated through the Seattle Social Development Project and the Community Youth Development Study. Baseline scores on the Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale during early adolescence (grades 6–8) robustly predict subsequent initiation of illicit drug use, school dropout, juvenile court adjudications, and adult criminal arrests through late adolescence and early adulthood (odds ratios ranging from $1.65$ to $2.80$ per standard deviation increase, controlling for baseline delinquent involvement and family socioeconomic status). Furthermore, the instrument effectively discriminates between normative adolescent cohorts, clinical populations treated for Conduct Disorder, and adjudicated youth within juvenile detention facilities.

Reliability

The scale exhibits strong internal consistency across diverse socio-demographic strata and geographic settings, as detailed in Table 1 below:

Across validation studies, the mean inter-item correlation generally falls within the optimal range of $.38$ to $.48$, indicating strong construct homogeneity without excessive item redundancy. In longitudinal multi-wave panel studies, test-retest correlations over a one-year interval typically fall between $r_{tt} = .52$ and $.64$. This stability coefficient appropriately reflects the developmental volatility of adolescent friendship networks while capturing an underlying, durable vulnerability to deviant peer affiliation.

Factor Analysis

Extensive factor analytic investigations confirm that the six items measure a single, coherent latent dimension. During initial exploratory factor analyses (EFA) utilizing principal axis factoring with promax rotation, a prominent single-factor solution emerges, accounting for over 52% to 61% of the total variance across adolescent samples. The ratio of the first-to-second eigenvalues regularly exceeds 4.5:1, firmly satisfying classical psychometric criteria for essential unidimensionality.

Confirmatory factor analyses (CFA) conducted on large statewide representative samples (e.g., Arthur et al., 2002; Glaser et al., 2005) further corroborate this one-factor model using robust weighted least squares (WLSMV) and maximum likelihood estimation with robust standard errors (MLR) to account for categorical, non-normal ordinal data. Representative CFA psychometric indices are summarized below:

Overall model fit indices for the single-factor specification routinely indicate excellent fit:

• Comparative Fit Index (CFI): .978 to .992
• Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI): .967 to .988
• Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA): .034 to .048 (90% CI [.028, .052])
• Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR): .024 to .035

Items measuring drug sales (Item 3) and arrests (Item 5) consistently display the highest standardized factor loadings, identifying them as key core markers of extreme antisocial peer deviance. In contrast, school dropout (Item 6) and school suspensions (Item 1) display slightly lower loadings, reflecting their broader prevalence and non-exclusive association with violent delinquency.

Instrument / Measurement Tool

• Instrument Name: Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale
• Alternative Titles: Antisocial Peer Interaction Subscale; Friends' Delinquent Behavior Scale; SDRG Peer Deviance Subscale
• Parent Instruments: Communities That Care Youth Survey (CTC-YS); Student Survey of Risk and Protective Factors (SSRPF); CSAP Core Measures (pp. 100–102)
• Administration Format: Self-report questionnaire (paper-and-pencil or secure digital survey administration)
• Target Population: Adolescents and young adults (grades 6 through 12, ages 11 to 18 years)
• Time Required: Approximately 2 to 4 minutes
• Item Count: 6 items
• Item Stem: "Think of your four best friends (the friends you feel closest to). In the past year (12 months), how many of your best friends have [behavioral milestone]?"
• Response Scale (5-point ordinal scale):
  • 0 = None of my friends
  • 1 = 1 of my friends
  • 2 = 2 of my friends
  • 3 = 3 of my friends
  • 4 = 4 of my friends
• Scoring Procedures:
  • Summed Raw Score: Sum the individual item ratings across all 6 completed items. Raw scores range from 0 (complete absence of antisocial peer exposure) to 24 (maximum saturation of antisocial peer immersion, wherein all four close peers have committed all six index behaviors).
  • Mean Scale Score: Compute the arithmetic mean across the items ($ ext{Sum} / 6$). Scores range from 0.00 to 4.00, expressing the average number of close friends involved in antisocial behaviors per category.
  • Handling Missing Data: If standard survey protocols are followed, a mean scale score can be calculated provided the respondent answered at least 80% of the items (at least 5 of the 6 items).
  • Normative Interpretation: Standardized T-scores or national percentiles (derived from CTC national normative datasets) are frequently used in epidemiological profiling. Mean scale scores exceeding 1.0 to 1.5 standard deviations above grade-specific norms identify adolescents or school cohorts at significantly elevated risk for delinquency, school failure, and substance abuse.

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The Interaction With Antisocial Peers Scale was developed in the late 1990s and early 2000s under extensive federal research grants sponsored by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). The primary validation studies establishing the instrument appeared in foundational publications between 1998 and 2002 (e.g., Arthur et al., 2002; Hawkins et al., 1992).

Copyright, Fee, and Accessibility Status:

• The instrument is maintained by the Social Development Research Group (SDRG) at the University of Washington and is featured within public domain federal clearinghouses, such as the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Core Measures.
• Licensing Fee: The scale is available free of charge for non-commercial research, academic inquiry, educational assessment, and public health evaluation.
• Permission Requirements: Formal licensing fees are not required for standard academic, non-commercial use. Researchers and organizations administering the scale are requested to properly cite the Social Development Research Group and primary instrument development publications in any resulting research reports or scholarly literature. Commercial reprinting, software bundling, or proprietary distribution requires written permission from the Social Development Research Group.

References

Arthur, M. W., Hawkins, J. D., Pollard, J. A., Catalano, R. F., & Baglioni, A. J. (2002). Measuring risk and protective factors for substance use, delinquency, and other adolescent problem behaviors: The Communities That Care Youth Survey. Evaluation Review, 26(6), 575–601. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X0202600601

Catalano, R. F., & Hawkins, J. D. (1996). The social development model: A theory of antisocial behavior. In J. D. Hawkins (Ed.), Delinquency and crime: Current theories (pp. 149–197). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511527623.007

Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. (2001). CSAP's Core Measures for Evaluating Youth and Community Substance Abuse Prevention Programs (pp. 100–102). Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

Dishion, T. J., McCord, J., & Poulin, F. (1999). When interventions harm: Peer groups and problem behavior. American Psychologist, 54(9), 755–764. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.9.755

Glaser, R. R., Van Horn, M. L., Arthur, M. W., & Hawkins, J. D. (2005). Measurement properties of the Communities That Care Youth Survey across demographic groups. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 21(1), 73–102. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-004-1788-1

Hawkins, J. D., Catalano, R. F., & Miller, J. Y. (1992). Risk and protective factors for alcohol and other drug problems in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for substance abuse prevention. Psychological Bulletin, 112(1), 64–105. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.112.1.64

Oesterle, S., Hawkins, J. D., Steketee, M., Jonkman, H., Brown, E. C., Moll, M., & Haggerty, K. P. (2018). A cross-national comparison of risk and protective factors for adolescent substance use and delinquency in the United States and the Netherlands. Journal of Adolescent Health, 62(4), 436–442. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.10.014

13. Items of the Scale (Questionnaire)