Antisocial behaviour (ASB) is a term used to cover a range of behaviours ranging from graffiti to engaging in physical fights and is found to be relatively common in childhood and adolescence (Popli et al., 2025; Walsh, 2019). Evidence from Western societies shows that ASB can be characterised by a bell-curve age trend, with an increase in the prevalence of ASB incidents from late childhood, and then declining in the early 20s (Farrington, 1986). There is an extensive international literature that looks at the association between ASB in adolescence and later outcomes (see, for example, Popli et al., 2025; Tinner et al., 2021). A systematic review found that engaging in frequent and high-intensity ASB in childhood and adolescence adversely impacts on physical and mental health, educational, and social outcomes in adulthood (Bevilacqua et al., 2018). However, many existing studies examine the US context which is very different to Ireland, not least in its incarceration rate. There has been a lack of longitudinal studies in Ireland to trace the trajectory of engagement in ASB and its consequences.

This study contributes to the national and international literature by using the rich longitudinal data available in Growing Up in Ireland (GUI) Cohort ’98 to trace ASB at 13 and 17 years of age and its consequences for educational, labour market and wellbeing outcomes in the twenties. Another strand in existing research points to some evidence suggesting that adolescent ASB has decreased over time across Western countries (see, for example, Sivertsson et al., 2025; Steffensmeier et al., 2025), although there is debate about the reasons for such trends. This study takes advantage of the two-cohort nature of GUI to compare the level of ASB among 13-year-olds a decade apart, building upon initial work by Murray and Smyth (2024). In particular, the analyses explore whether the profile of those engaged in ASB has changed in terms of gender and social background. The remainder of this chapter places the study in the context of previous international and Irish research, and outlines the measures and methodology used.