Testing the Social Bond Theory Explanation for the Family Size and Delinquency Relationship

Scholars have long explored how families influence childhood and adolescent outcomes. A large body of work suggests that children in families with a greater number of siblings are more likely to engage in delinquency. There remains, however, little empirical work testing the mediating mechanisms that might account for any observed relationship between family size and delinquency. To address this gap, we test theoretical explanations of the relationship between family size and delinquency using causal mediation analysis with a nationally representative sample of youth from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health. The analyses provide mixed support for theoretical explanations of the family size-delinquency relationship. We discuss the findings and their implications for theory, research, and policy.