Photo by cgo2, via Flickr

Pre-teens who like Black Sabbath or Cannibal Corpse are more likely to engage in delinquent behavior than those who like Thelonious Monk or Scott Dubois, according to a new study in the journal Pediatrics.

Researchers studied 309 urban high school and junior high students in the Netherlands for four years and found that 12 year olds with preferences for metal, hip-hop, gothic, punk, trance, or techno music were more likely to be engaged in “minor” delinquency (i.e. shoplifting, vandalism, fighting and graffiti) by age 16.

By contrast, teenagers who preferred jazz or classical music showed declining delinquent tendencies as they grew older.

"This study is the first 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," the study's authors wrote.

The research contradicts a similar study done in Ohio in 1990, which found little correlation between musical preference and teenage behavior problems. However, it confirms a study published in 1991 that linked heavy metal music listening to reckless behavior.

Read the study here.