Trauma histories among justice-involved youth: findings from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network

Abstract

BackgroundUp to 90% of justice-involved youth report exposure to some type of traumatic event. On average, 70% of youth meet criteria for a mental health disorder with approximately 30% of youth meeting criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Justice-involved youth are also at risk for substance use and academic problems, and child welfare involvement. Yet, less is known about the details of their trauma histories, and associations among trauma details, mental health problems, and associated risk factors.ObjectiveThis study describes detailed trauma histories, mental health problems, and associated risk factors (i.e., academic problems, substance/alcohol use, and concurrent child welfare involvement) among adolescents with recent involvement in the juvenile justice system.MethodThe National Child Traumatic Stress Network Core Data Set (NCTSN-CDS) is used to address these aims, among which 658 adolescents report recent involvement in the juvenile justice system as indexed by being detained or under community supervision by the juvenile court.ResultsAge of onset of trauma exposure was within the first 5 years of life for 62% of youth and approximately one-third of youth report exposure to multiple or co-occurring trauma types each year into adolescence. Mental health problems are prevalent with 23.6% of youth meeting criteria for PTSD, 66.1% in the clinical range for externalizing problems, and 45.5% in the clinical range for internalizing problems. Early age of onset of trauma exposure was differentially associated with mental health problems and related risk factors among males and females.ConclusionsThe results indicate that justice-involved youth report high rates of trauma exposure and that this trauma typically begins early in life, is often in multiple contexts, and persists over time. Findings provide support for establishing trauma-informed juvenile justice systems that can respond to the needs of traumatized youth.

Dimensionality and measurement invariance of the Other as Shamer Scale across diverse adolescent samples

“…This is in line with the literature that indicates a high prevalence of traumatic experiences, including shameful ones (Kerig & Becker, 2010), in both referred and forensic samples (Abram et al, 2004;Brigs et al, 2013;Dierkhising et al, 2013;Willis et al, 2013). Moreover, referred participants, as compared to community participants, reported more frequently having experienced shame, concurring with findings of a lower prevalence of trauma exposure in community samples of youth when compared to referred ones (Brigs et al, 2013).…”

“…This finding might be related to the fact that detained youth, though possessing a high prevalence of trauma exposure (Abram et al, 2004;Dierkhising et al, 2013;Willis et al, 2013), tend to deal with negative emotions by dissociation (Bennetti-McQuoid et al, 2015), denial (Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2015), or emotional numbing (Kerig & Becker, 2010;Kerig et al, 2012). This fact could difficult the assessment of shame and other negative emotions by self-report measures in this specific population.…”

“…The validation of both measures within externalizing samples of adolescents seems paramount for three reasons: (1) harsh rearing scenarios, including shaming ones, are recognized as important risk factors for the development of disruptive behaviors (Abram et al, 2004;APA, 2013;Brigs et al, 2013;Dierkhising et al, 2013;Willis, Best, & Aalsma, 2013;Kerig & Becker, 2010;Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2015); (2) youth with disruptive behaviors tend to bypass the experience of negative emotions (including shame; Lewis, 1992) by dissociation (Bennett, Modrowski, Kerig, Chaplo, 2015), avoidance/disowning (Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2015), or emotional numbing (Kerig & Becker, 2010;Kerig, Bennett, Thompson, & Becker, 2012); (3) shame is associated with a higher risk of recidivism in antisocial youth via the externalization of blame (Tangney, Stuewig, & Martinez, 2015), by attacking others (Nathanson, 1992;Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2015). Therefore, this work includes two studies, one focusing on the OAS-A and the other centered on the OASB-A.…”

You Learn What You Live: Prevalence of Childhood Adversity in the Lives of Juveniles Arrested for Sexual Offenses

“…Research on justice-involved youths has consistently found higher rates of adversity compared to youths in the general population, and they are more likely to have suffered multiple and chronic forms of trauma (Abram et al, 2004;Baglivio et al, 2014;Dierkhising et al, 2013). Furthermore, these youths have a greater likelihood of child protection involvement and foster care placements, exacerbating traumagenic factors that contribute to the development of delinquent behavior (Barrett, Katsiyannis, Zhang, & Zhang, 2013).…”

Unit manager perspectives of a trauma-specific programme across Scotland’s secure estate

“…Events included a range of abuse and neglect, parental imprisonment, hospitalisations from As a comparison, juvenile detention studies in the USA have also found that significant numbers of adolescents (90%) experience high levels of trauma exposure. This compares to only a third of young people in the general population experiencing such events (Dierkhising, Ko, Woods-Jaeger, Briggs, Lee, & Pynoos, 2013). The recent Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) study identified that juvenile offenders (n = 64,329) experienced a range of adversity including sexual abuse, emotional abuse physical abuse and assault, neglect, family violence, substance use, and having a relative imprisoned (Baglivio et al, 2014).…”