Late Onset Offending and Substance Abuse: Findings from the Nysfs (Criminal Justice: Recent Scholarship)

Welch analyzes findings from the National Youth Survey Family Study (NYSFS) to determine the frequency and predictors of late onset offending and other problem behaviors in adulthood. She clarifies the conceptualization of late onset, to investigate the contradictions in findings concerning its occurrence, and to determine which factors are significant predictors of late onset. Findings suggest that late onset substance use is rare and late onset offending is even rarer (less than .1% of respondents and less than 1% of all offenders). Due to the rarity of these events, it is extremely difficult to identify salient predictors. The strongest predictor of late onset offending is prior offending, suggesting that serious measures are not valid measures of late onset offending, but rather identify a continuation of offending from minor to more serious offenses.