Stress, Mental Health and Substance Abuse Problems In a Sample of Diversion Program Youth: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis.
Reflective of interest in mental health and substance abuse issues among youths involved with the justice system, we performed a latent class analysis on baseline information collected on 100 youths involved in two diversion programs. Results identified two groups of youths: Group 1: a majority of the youths, who had high levels of delinquency, mental health and substance abuse issues, Group 2: youths with low levels of these problems. Comparison of these two groups on a variety of psychosocial measures and parent/guardian reports found differences between them that were consistent with their problem group classification. Follow-up analysis confirmed problem behavior that was consistent with the youths' latent class placement. Implications of the findings for research and practice will be presented.
University of South Florida, Department of Criminology, Tampa, Florida.
Richard
R
Dembo
Rhissa
R
Briones
Laura
L
Gulledge
Lora
L
Karas
Ken C
KC
Winters
Steven
S
Belenko
Paul E
PE
Greenbaum