Abstract
In an effort to further disentangle the correlates of delinquency and learning disability, a study by Sobotowicz, Evans and Laughlin (1987) was replicated using boys from an unselected cohort. Four groups were identified: normal subjects (N; n=316), delinquent subjects (JD: n=50), learning disabled subjects (LD: n=39), and learning disabled/delinquent subjects (LD/JD: n=20). It was predicted that: (1) the N group would outperform the other groups on neuropsychological variables assessing verbal functioning and language skills; (2) the JD group would outperform the LD and LD/JD group on measures of verbal skill; (3) the LD group would out perform the LD/JD group on measures of executive functioning; and (4) the two non-delinquent groups would score higher on measures of social support than would the two delinquent groups. Results indicated that both the delinquent subjects and the learning disabled subjects performed more poorly than controls on measures of verbal skill, and scored lower than controls on measures of social support. No group differences were found on the executive function variables. The results were interpreted as indicating that "known" correlates of delinquency are actually correlates of delinquency per se, and not simply a result of the large numbers of learning disabled subjects often found in delinquent samples.