Table 1.
Description of Some Major Characteristics of Article and Study Used in the Present Meta-Analysis
| Study characteristics | Frequency | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| General study characteristics | ||
| Year of publication (k = 161) | ||
| 1950–1970 | 9 | 5.6 |
| 1970–1979 | 6 | 3.7 |
| 1980–1989 | 20 | 12.4 |
| 1990–1999 | 57 | 35.4 |
| 2000–2007 | 69 | 42.9 |
| Publication status (k = 161) | ||
| Published | 143 | 88.8 |
| Unpublished | 18 | 11.2 |
| Impact factora (k = 161) | ||
| 0 | 42 | 26.1 |
| 0.163 to 0.999 | 40 | 24.8 |
| 1 to 1.999 | 23 | 14.3 |
| 2 to 2.999 | 1 | 0.6 |
| 3 to 3.999 | 23 | 14.3 |
| 4 to 4.999 | 12 | 7.5 |
| 10 to 13.936 | 1 | 0.6 |
| Not specified | 19 | 11.8 |
| Sample characteristics | ||
| Continent (k = 119) | ||
| North America | 83 | 69.7 |
| Europe | 32 | 26.9 |
| Australia | 4 | 3.4 |
| Degree of urbanization (k = 119) | ||
| Urban area | 69 | 58.0 |
| Rural area | 8 | 6.7 |
| Mixed | 32 | 26.9 |
| Not specified | 10 | 8.4 |
| Sample type (k = 126) | ||
| Delinquents overrepresented | 42 | 33.3 |
| Representative | 70 | 55.6 |
| Other | 14 | 11.1 |
| Sex of the target child (k = 149) | ||
| Males | 43 | 29.5 |
| Females | 24 | 16.4 |
| Mixed | 79 | 54.1 |
| Percentage of ethnic minorities (k = 130) | ||
| 0–10 | 32 | 24.6 |
| 10–19 | 13 | 10.0 |
| 20–29 | 4 | 3.1 |
| 30–39 | 8 | 6.2 |
| 40–49 | 9 | 6.9 |
| 50–59 | 4 | 3.1 |
| 60–69 | 0 | 0.0 |
| 70–79 | 2 | 1.5 |
| 80–89 | 5 | 3.8 |
| 90–100 | 19 | 14.6 |
| Not specified | 34 | 26.2 |
| Delinquency characteristics | ||
| Delinquency type (k = 133) | ||
| General delinquency | 106 | 79.7 |
| Overt delinquency | 17 | 12.8 |
| Covert delinquency | 10 | 7.5 |
| Source of delinquency (k = 132) | ||
| Self-report | 100 | 75.8 |
| Official record | 20 | 15.2 |
| Combination | 9 | 6.8 |
| Parent report | 3 | 2.3 |
| Number of informants (k = 127) | ||
| 1 | 116 | 91.3 |
| 2 | 7 | 5.5 |
| 3 | 3 | 2.4 |
| 4 | 1 | 0.8 |
| Age (k = 160) | ||
| 6.0–8.9 | 2 | 1.3 |
| 9.0–11.9 | 9 | 5.6 |
| 12.0–14.9 | 47 | 29.4 |
| 15.0–17.9 | 72 | 45.0 |
| 18.0–20.9 | 12 | 7.5 |
| 21.0–29.9 | 8 | 5.0 |
| 30.0–59.9 | 8 | 5.0 |
| Not specified | 2 | 1.3 |
| Age range (k = 129) | ||
| 1 year | 21 | 16.3 |
| 2–5 | 58 | 45.0 |
| 6–10 | 42 | 32.6 |
| 11–18 | 4 | 3.1 |
| Not specified | 4 | 3.1 |
| Periodb (k = 147) | ||
| 0 to −1 | 70 | 47.6 |
| −1 to −3 | 5 | 3.4 |
| −3 to −10 | 10 | 6.8 |
| < −10 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Ever | 43 | 29.3 |
| Incarcerated | 6 | 4.1 |
| Not specified | 12 | 8.2 |
| Percentage of problem behavior (k = 136) | ||
| 0% | 49 | 36.0 |
| 1–19.99% | 13 | 9.6 |
| 20–39.99% | 20 | 14.7 |
| 40–59.99% | 13 | 9.6 |
| 60–79.99% | 16 | 11.8 |
| Not specified | 25 | 18.4 |
| Parenting characteristics | ||
| Actor (k = 293) | ||
| Father | 58 | 19.8 |
| Mother | 65 | 22.2 |
| Both parents or parent not specified | 170 | 58.0 |
| Informant (k = 293) | ||
| Parent | 47 | 16.0 |
| Subject | 202 | 68.9 |
| Observer | 9 | 3.1 |
| Official record | 1 | 0.3 |
| Combination | 34 | 11.6 |
| Number of informants (k = 293) | ||
| 1 | 259 | 88.4 |
| 2 | 16 | 5.5 |
| 3 | 12 | 4.1 |
| 4 | 1 | 0.3 |
| 5 | 5 | 1.7 |
| Agec (k = 293) | ||
| 5–7.9 | 3 | 1.0 |
| 8–10.9 | 27 | 9.2 |
| 11–13.9 | 73 | 24.9 |
| 14–16.9 | 153 | 52.2 |
| 17–19.9 | 23 | 7.8 |
| 20–39.9 | 7 | 2.4 |
| Not specified | 7 | 2.4 |
| Age range (k = 293) | ||
| 1 year | 45 | 15.4 |
| 2–5 | 144 | 49.1 |
| 6–10 | 88 | 30.0 |
| 11–18 | 7 | 2.4 |
| Not specified | 9 | 3.1 |
| Methodological characteristics | ||
| Sample size (k = 293) | ||
| 34–50 | 8 | 2.7 |
| 50–99 | 31 | 10.6 |
| 100–199 | 42 | 14.3 |
| 200–499 | 102 | 34.8 |
| 500–999 | 60 | 20.5 |
| 1,000–9,999 | 50 | 17.1 |
| Time interval (k = 293) | ||
| 0 years | 208 | 71.0 |
| 0.1–4.9 | 47 | 16.0 |
| 5–9.9 | 16 | 5.5 |
| 10–35 | 22 | 7.5 |
| Test statistic (k = 293) | ||
| Continuous | 233 | 79.5 |
| Dichotomous | 42 | 14.3 |
| Mixed | 13 | 4.4 |
| Other | 5 | 1.7 |
| Design (k = 127) | ||
| Cross-sectional | 88 | 69.3 |
| Longitudinal | 35 | 27.6 |
| Retrospectief | 4 | 3.1 |
| Number of items (delinquency; k = 149) | ||
| 1 | 3 | 2.0 |
| 2 to 5 | 10 | 6.7 |
| 6 to 10 | 31 | 20.8 |
| 11 to 20 | 41 | 27.5 |
| 21 to 50 | 31 | 20.8 |
| 51 to 100 | 4 | 2.7 |
| 101 to 130 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Not specified | 28 | 18.8 |
| Number of items (parenting variables; k = 293) | ||
| 1 | 31 | 10.6 |
| 2 to 5 | 76 | 25.9 |
| 6 to 10 | 81 | 27.6 |
| 11 to 20 | 28 | 9.6 |
| 21 to 30 | 8 | 2.7 |
| 31 to 40 | 10 | 3.4 |
| 41 to 50 | 2 | 0.7 |
| 51 to 60 | 2 | 0.7 |
| Not specified | 55 | 18.8 |
| Reliability (parenting variables; k = 293) | ||
| 0.39 to 0.50 | 4 | 1.4 |
| 0.51 to 0.60 | 10 | 3.4 |
| 0.61 to 0.70 | 32 | 10.9 |
| 0.71 to 0.80 | 63 | 21.5 |
| 0.81 to 0.90 | 71 | 24.2 |
| 0.91 to 0.96 | 8 | 2.7 |
| Not specified | 105 | 35.8 |
For the General study characteristics k equals the number of articles. For the sample characteristics, k equals the number of samples; for the parenting characteristics, k equals the number of analyses
aImpact factors were retrieved from ISI Web of Knowledge. Journals not found in this database fall under ‘Not specified’
bThe period in which delinquent behavior took place, for example −1 means that crimes were committed in the last year, and −3 means that crimes were committed in the last 3 years
cAge at the time of the parenting measurement goes past 18 years, because several studies had a retrospective design