Coping, Trauma, and Service Utilization As Predictors of Arrest Among Youth Experiencing Childhood Maltreatment

Background and Purpose: Youth who experience childhood maltreatment are more likely to engage in delinquent behaviors. Maladaptive coping behavior due to mental health and substance use problems may be mechanisms through which maltreated youth become involved in the criminal justice system. The coping styles of maltreated youth are understudied. In the current study, I conducted logistic regression analysis of data from a sample of youth with varying levels of exposure to childhood maltreatment to determine whether trauma symptoms, coping styles, and receipt of psychological or drug/alcohol counseling influence likelihood of criminal justice involvement.

Method: This secondary analysis of data from the Longitudinal Studies of Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) studied 586 youth at wave 18 from the Eastern, Northwest, and Southwest regions. Trauma symptoms was measured by the Trauma Symptom Inventory and participant t-scores on 5 clinical subscales were used as variables in this study: Anxious Arousal, Depression, Anger/Irritability, Defensive Avoidance, and Tension Reduction Behavior. Youth coping style was measured by the Adolescent Coping Orientation for Problem Experiences. Utilization of psychological counseling was assessed by the following question: “In the last 12 months, did you get counseling or therapy for a psychological or emotional problem?” Utilization of drug/alcohol counseling was measured by the following question: “In the last 12 months, did you get drug/alcohol treatment or counseling?” Youth criminal justice involvement was measured by the following question: “Have you ever been arrested, taken into custody by the police for something they thought you might have done, or charged with a crime for anything other than a minor traffic violation?” Race, gender, and region were also examined.

Results: Twenty-three percent of the sample had been arrested. The majority of participants identified as African American and there were roughly equal numbers of male and females. At the bivariate level, males, African American youth, youth who received drug/alcohol counseling, and youth with higher scores on all trauma subscales were more likely to report history of arrest. The logistic regression model produced an R square of .173 and race (OR=2.36, p<.05), gender (OR=.524, p<.01), utilization of drug/alcohol counseling (OR=2.86, p<.05), negative coping styles (.990, p<.05), and defensive avoidant scores (OR=1.01, p<.05) were associated with increased likelihood of arrest history.

Conclusion and Implications: Social workers are uniquely positioned to address the needs of maltreated youth due to their prevalence in the behavioral health and child welfare workforce. Cross system collaboration should occur between the child welfare and juvenile justice systems to provide coordinated case management for dually involved youth. Both child welfare and juvenile systems should be trauma-informed and provide early assessment of trauma symptoms. Youth experiencing psychological distress should be connected to evidence-based treatment to help them develop positive coping skills and prevent delinquency. Furthermore, because of the overrepresentation of children of color in both the child welfare and juvenile justice systems, social work interventions should be culturally-competent and be responsive to the needs of vulnerable subgroups.