title: The influence of psychosomatic symptoms, physical and sexual abuse, and coping strategies on delinquent behavior among Korean adolescents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This cross-sectional study was undertaken to examine the contributing factors related to juvenile delinquency, as well as to identify the effect of psychosomatic symptoms, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and coping strategies on delinquent behavior among Korean adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  To investigate the research problem, 2,146 adolescents, including 1,350 student adolescents and 796 delinquent adolescents, were assessed using a cross-sectional descriptive design study via anonymous, self-reporting questionnaires. Almost all research variables were measured using the Mental Health Questionnaire for Korean Adolescents.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our results revealed that delinquent adolescents showed a greater incidence of psychosomatic symptoms, higher levels of physical and sexual abuse, and a higher level of less effective coping strategies compared with student adolescents. Our path analysis revealed that the likelihood of delinquent behavior among adolescents appeared to be influenced mainly by sexual abuse, Psychosomatic Symptoms I, and physical abuse, with these three variables having the highest total effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study confirms the relationships previously identified among stress, somatic complaints, and ineffective coping. In addition, we demonstrated that these relationships cover a wide spectrum, ranging from psychosomatic symptoms to behavioral problems. Further implications of the results and research limitation were discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, Daegu Haany University, South Korea. hskim@dhu.ac.kr
authors.forename: Hyun-Sil
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hun-Soo
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Samuels-Dennis
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires