title: Mental health problems in young male offenders with and without sex offences: a comparison based on the MAYSI-2.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is a need for better knowledge about the relationship between sexual offending by young people and mental health problems.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to compare mental health problems between young people who commit sexual offences and those who do not.
  
  
  METHODS
  After completion of the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version 2 (MAYSI-2), 334 young people who, according to MAYSI-2 information, had committed a sex offence were compared with 334 young people whose MAYSI-2 data suggested that they had not committed a sex offence. They were matched for age, race/ethnicity, type of facility and adjudication status. We also examined the young sex offenders for within group differences.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The young sex offenders were less likely to report anger-irritability or substance misuse than the comparison youths. Within the sex offender group, older juveniles were more likely to report alcohol and drug use problems than younger ones, Caucasians were more likely to report anger and suicidal ideation than their non-Caucasian peers, those detained were more likely to report alcohol and drug use problems and somatic complaints than those on probation, and convicted youths were more likely to report alcohol and drug use problems and anger-irritability than those awaiting trial.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Juvenile sexual offending seems less likely to be committed in the context of an anti-social lifestyle than other offending. Important findings among young sex offenders are their higher levels of mental health problems among those detained and convicted than among those on probation or awaiting trial. Assessment of the mental health of young sex offenders seems to be even more important the further they are into the justice system. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Cyril
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boonmann
authors.affiliation: Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Rebecca J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Nelson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Roger Williams University, Bristol, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: DiCataldo
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Lucres M C
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and the EMGO Institute for Health and Care Research, VU University Medical Center Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Theo A H
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Doreleijers
authors.affiliation: Curium-LUMC, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Robert R J M
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Vermeiren
authors.affiliation: Curium-LUMC, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Olivier F
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Colins
authors.affiliation: Systems and Psychosocial Advances Research Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Grisso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D000786:Anger; D002648:Child; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D008603:Mental Health; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology