According to the Toronto Star, a new study published in the journal Pediatrics is the ?rst to provide evidence that an early preference for different types of noisy, rebellious, nonmainstream music genres is a strong predictor of concurrent and later minor delinquency.

"We were stunned ourselves," said Dr. Tom Ter Bogt of Utrecht University in the Netherlands said. "We checked it over and over again."

Research showed that "early preferences are more important predictors of later delinquency compared with developing preferences for deviant music (i.e., increases in liking of nonmainstream music across adolescence did not indicate more delinquency at age 16). Speci?cally, adolescents with a strong early preference for music types that have been labeled as deviant (hip-hop, heavy metal, gothic, punk, and techno/hardhouse) were more engaged in minor delinquency in late adolescence."

Ter Bogt told the Toronto Star: "What we believe happens if you have this taste for rebellious music, noisy music, it brings you in contact with other kids with the same type of music taste and you are contaminated by the behaviour in that group.

"If you listen to classical music or jazz, overall these kids tend to behave far less dramatically."

He added: "I would suggest to parents if your 12-year-old child listens to very, very noisy music, rebellious music, be aware of what kinds of friends he or she brings to the house."

Read more from the Toronto Star.