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ABSTRACT
Past research has noted antisocial peers and family dysfunction to influence an individual’s propensity to engage in antisocial aggression. The aim of the current study was to assess the association between the aforementioned vulnerability factors and their unique association with antisocial aggression. One-hundred-and-sixty-two Australian young adults (aged 18–29) completed a survey. The results show that antisocial peers are a positive, significant predictor of antisocial aggression. However, family dysfunction was not identified to be a significant predictor of antisocial aggression. In the context of past empirical findings, the results of the current study have a theoretical basis, in that family dysfunction and antisocial peers are time dependent vulnerability factors. Specifically, the present study asserts family dysfunction becomes a non-significant contributing factor to antisocial aggression given young adults are less likely to live with family and a more likely to be influenced by their peers.