Demographic, psychometric, self-report, and observational measures were collected on 74 father-present and 89 father-absent families, of which 62% and 77%, respectively, included an adolescent son who had been arrested. Multiple regression analyses were conducted separately for father-present and father-absent families. Socialized-aggressive disorder, as rated by the parent(s), was the most consistent and powerful predictor of serious and repeated arrests among the male adolescents and their siblings. The second most powerful predictor was the adolescent's age at first arrest. Several family relationship measures were also significant predictors of adolescent and family arrest records. Combined, these measures accounted for a large percentage of the variance of each predicted variable. The implications of these findings for theory, research and clinical practice are discussed. (Publisher abstract)