Prevalence and correlates of psychiatric disorders among former juvenile detainees in the United States.
OBJECTIVE
Juvenile offenders face increased liability for psychiatric disorders and greater psychopathology, but little is known about the psychiatric status of former juvenile delinquents as adults.


METHODS
Drawing on data from Wave 1 and Wave 2 of the NESARC, logistic regression models examine correlates of psychiatric disorders in a large nationally representative sample of former juvenile detainees in adulthood (n=1177) compared to adults who did not have a history of juvenile offending (n=33,193). Further, we explored the psychosocial correlates associated with the increased likelihood of psychiatric disorders among former juvenile detainees.


RESULTS
Nearly half of former juvenile detainees met criteria for one or more psychiatric disorders in the past twelve months and approximately two-thirds meet criteria for any lifetime personality disorder. Compared to the general population, former juvenile detainees not only denote greater psychiatric comorbidity across a range of affective, personality, and substance use disorders but are also more likely to report childhood adversity.


CONCLUSIONS
Former juvenile detainees experience significantly greater and more varied psychiatric problems across adulthood.
School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO United States. Electronic address: mvaughn9@slu.edu.
Michael G
MG
Vaughn
School of Social Work, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX United States.
Christopher P
CP
Salas-Wright
Department of Sociology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States.
Matt
M
DeLisi
School of Social Work, College for Public Health and Social Justice, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO United States.
Brandy R
BR
Maynard
School of Social Work and Department of Epidemiology, College for Public Health, Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO United States.
Brian
B
Boutwell
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult