The Impact of Types and Extent of Trauma on Depressive Affect Among Male Juvenile Sexual Offenders

High levels of depression have been found among incarcerated youth, which suggests that mental health problems are associated with delinquent behavior and are part of a constellation of risk factors that contribute to youth entering the juvenile justice system. In this project, we investigated traum...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Jencks, Jennifer W. (Author) ; Leibowitz, George S. (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: 2018
In: International journal of offender therapy and comparative criminology
Year: 2018, Volume: 62, Issue: 5, Pages: 1143-1163
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
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Keywords:
Depression
Delinquent behavior
Mental health
Childhood trauma
Sexually abusive youth
Kindheitstrauma
Kriminalität
Sexualstraftäter
Seelische Gesundheit
Psychische Gesundheit
Description
Summary:High levels of depression have been found among incarcerated youth, which suggests that mental health problems are associated with delinquent behavior and are part of a constellation of risk factors that contribute to youth entering the juvenile justice system. In this project, we investigated trauma and mental health issues among male youth in residential treatment, and addressed the following questions: (a) Does childhood trauma predict current depression for male juvenile sexual offenders? (b) If so, do different types of traumas predict depressive affect better than others? and, (c) Does extent of trauma exposure predict depression? Data on incarcerated male juvenile sexual offenders were analyzed (n = 379). Multiple regressions of various types of traumas and cumulative trauma and depression were conducted. Emotional abuse was the strongest predictor of depressive affect for this sample, and multiple exposures to trauma were the second strongest predictor.
ISSN:1552-6933
DOI:10.1177/0306624X16676099