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Trauma and Violent Misconduct Among Incarcerated Juveniles: the Mediating Role of Mental Health

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Abstract 

Though most research focuses on antisocial behavior that occurs outside of correctional institutions, it is also important to understand the etiology of such behavior that occurs inside a correctional institution, generally referred to as institutional misconduct. Most misconduct studies have relied upon the importation model, finding evidence that factors that predict violence outside an institution also predict violence inside an institution. Two such risk factors include poor mental health and childhood trauma exposure. However, researchers have yet to consider the potential mediating pathways between these variables and misconduct. The current study sought to address this gap and examined if poor mental health mediates the impact of trauma exposure on violent misconduct among a sample of institutionalized juvenile delinquents. Data from a large southern state found evidence of a partial mediation effect, suggesting trauma-exposed youth were more likely to experience mental health problems which, in turn, increased their likelihood of engaging in violent misconduct. Results also revealed a significant direct relationship between trauma exposure and violent misconduct. A discussion of these findings is presented, along with their policy implications.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings from this study are available from the Texas Department of Juvenile Justice but restrictions apply to the availbility of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicaly available.

Notes

  1. In constructing the measurement model for this mediating variable, several iterations of operationalizations were assessed, including retaining the original continuous coding of the MAYSI scales, using the standardized coding of the MAYSI scales, and dichotomizing the scales. The dichotomized coding resulted in the best model fit so those were used in the full structural equation model. Results of these models are available upon request.

  2. The data were assessed for univariate and multivariate outliers and none were found in the current study’s data. Missing data were also not a concern for the data used in the current study. In preliminary analyses, a control variable indicating if a youth had previously recidivated while on a sentence of probation was included. However, as the results indicated probation failure had no impact on violent misconduct, it was removed from subsequent analyses to allow for parsimony.

  3. When the MLR estimator is used, MPlus 8.2 does not provide the standard fit statistics (e.g., RMSEA, CFI, and TLI). However, as recommended by Muthén, Muthén, and Asparouhov (2017), a supplemental analysis utilized the ML estimator with 5000 bootstraps, and the results were substantively similar.

  4. The Appendix includes the bivariate correlations for the variables of interest. Though the individual variables composing the mental health problems measurement model were included separately, the analyses consider them as one overall construct. As these results reveal, multicollinearity was not an issue in the current analysis.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Drs. Kevin Wolff and Chris Guerra for their assistance on this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Criminal Justice, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    Jessica M. Craig, Haley Zettler & Chad R. Trulson

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  1. Jessica M. Craig
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  3. Chad R. Trulson
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Correspondence to Jessica M. Craig.

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Appendix

Appendix

Table 3

Table 3 Bivariate correlations between all variables (n = 13,037)
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Craig, J.M., Zettler, H. & Trulson, C.R. Trauma and Violent Misconduct Among Incarcerated Juveniles: the Mediating Role of Mental Health. J Dev Life Course Criminology 9, 121–140 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40865-022-00220-z

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