Childhood traumatic experiences and mental health problems in sexually offending and non-sexually offending juveniles

Abstract

ObjectiveTo examine the relationship between a history of childhood abuse and mental health problems in juveniles who sexually offended (JSOs) over and above general offending behavior.MethodsA sample of 44 JSOs incarcerated in two juvenile detention centers in the Netherlands between May 2008 and March 2014 were examined for childhood abuse history (Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form) and mental health problems (Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2). Furthermore, the connection between childhood abuse and mental health problems in JSOs was compared to a sample of 44 propensity score matched juveniles who offended non-sexually (non-JSOs).ResultsIn JSOs, sexual abuse was related to anger problems, suicidal ideation, and thought disturbance. These associations were significantly stronger in JSOs than in non-JSOs.ConclusionsOur results suggest that the relationship between childhood abuse and both internalizing and externalizing mental health problems is of more salience for understanding sexual offending than non-sexual offending, and should, therefore, be an important focus in the assessment and treatment of JSOs.

Childhood maltreatment and suicide attempts in prisoners: a systematic meta-analytic review

“…An additional 90 studies were excluded as they did not report data relevant to the link between childhood maltreatment and suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Of the remaining 28 studies, only four focused exclusively on either suicidal ideation (Zhang et al ., 2010; Boonmann et al ., 2016), suicide risk (Blaauw et al ., 2002), or suicidality (a term that may incorporate attempts, ideation, plans, urges and intentions; Sergentanis et al ., 2014), resulting in 24 independent studies which were focused exclusively on the link between any form of childhood maltreatment and suicide attempts in prisoners (see Fig. 1).…”

“…In the last decade, links between myriad forms of childhood abuse and suicidal experiences have begun to be explored in incarcerated populations (Bhatta et al ., 2014; Boonmann et al ., 2016). Previous research has established that prisoners reliably report more childhood traumatic events than those in the general community (Jordan et al ., 1996) and that these experiences are strongly linked to suicidal acts (Angelakis et al ., 2019).…”

Caracterización psicosocial y criminológica de adolescentes chilenos con prácticas abusivas sexuales

“…Por otro lado, un hecho llamativo emerge al contrastar los resultados de esta dimensión con los estudios internacionales, debido a que las tasas de victimización encontradas en ambos grupos tienden a ser superiores a las reportadas en investigaciones realizadas en España, Estados Unidos y Canadá (Benedicto et al, 2017;Fanniff & Kolko, 2012;Leroux et al, 2016). De este modo, se refuerza la evidencia que indica una estrecha relación entre experiencias de esta naturaleza y posibles problemas de comportamiento sexual en edades posteriores (Barra et al, 2017;Boonmann et al, 2016;Dillard & Beaujolais, 2019;Malvaso et al, 2020;Tsang, 2017;Yoder & Precht, 2020).…”

Multiplicative Effects of Social and Psychological Risk Factors on College Students’ Suicidal Behaviors

“…Subadditive effects of social and psychological risk factors can be attributed to similarities and common elements that various psychiatric disorders share. Stress is a common cause for depression, anxiety, substance use, and suicide [ 51 , 52 ]. Dysregulation of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis is commonly seen in patients with anxiety, depression, and other mental conditions [ 53 ].…”