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Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Recidivism in Serious Juvenile Offenders: Testing the Mediating Role of Future Orientation

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Abstract

Evidence suggests delinquent youth are more likely to suffer from posttraumatic stress symptoms and links those symptoms to subsequent aggressive behavior and criminal activity. Research also indicates the impact of decision-making capacity in this context. Specifically, future orientation has been shown to play an important role in adolescent delinquency; less future orientation has been linked with persistent delinquency. Notably, trauma exposure is associated with slower development of future orientation in delinquent youth. Using a sample of serious juvenile offenders, the current study examined the relation between posttraumatic stress symptoms and aggressive reoffending testing the hypothesis that future orientation would mediate that relation. Results did not indicate significant mediation by future orientation in the link between posttraumatic stress symptoms and aggressive reoffending. However, experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms and low future orientation separately increased the likelihood of aggressive recidivism. Findings highlight the value of comprehensive prevention and intervention efforts, targeting both posttraumatic stress symptoms and future orientation.

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  1. Department of Psychology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, 77341, USA

    Kaisa Marshall, Anna Abate & Amanda Venata

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  1. Kaisa Marshall
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  2. Anna Abate
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  3. Amanda Venata
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Correspondence to Amanda Venata.

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Ethical Standards and Informed Consent

The authors of the current manuscript did not collect the data. Data for this study was collected as a part of the larger Pathways to Desistance Study: https://www.pathwaysstudy.pitt.edu/index.html. To the best of the authors’ knowledge all procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation [institutional and national] and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000. Informed consent was obtained from all patients for being included in the study.

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Marshall, K., Abate, A. & Venata, A. Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Recidivism in Serious Juvenile Offenders: Testing the Mediating Role of Future Orientation. Journ Child Adol Trauma 13, 33–43 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-018-0234-8

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