title: Exploring Emotion Regulation in Juveniles Who Have Sexually Offended: An fMRI Study.
abstract: This exploratory study compared juveniles who sexually offend to nonoffending juveniles in their capacities to behaviorally and neurologically regulate, or reappraise, negative emotions. Participants were 39 juvenile males, including 10 healthy, nonoffending control subjects and 29 juveniles who sexually offend, comprising 12 juveniles who sexually offend with history of child sexual abuse. Participants completed a clinical assessment and a reappraisal task during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Difficulties in Emotional Regulation Scale results showed significantly less difficulties in emotion regulation among controls compared to juveniles who sexually offend, but when self-rating reappraisal abilities during the functional magnetic resonance imaging, all groups obtained comparable results. The imaging results showed no significant differences in fronto-temporal regions between controls and juveniles who sexually offend. Differences were found in other regions indicated in cognitive control, working memory, and emotional processing between controls and juveniles who sexually offend as well as between juveniles who sexually offend and those without history of child sexual abuse. Findings suggest that juveniles who sexually offend are capable of emotion regulation.
authors.affiliation: a College of Nursing, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences , Little Rock , Arkansas , USA.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres , Quebec , Canada.|c The Institute Philippe-Pinel of Montreal , Montreal , Canada.
authors.forename: Christian C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Joyal
authors.affiliation: d Psychiatric Research Institute, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences , Little Rock , Arkansas.
authors.forename: Josh M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Cisler
authors.affiliation: e Department of Pediatrics , University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences , Little Rock , Arkansas.
authors.forename: Shasha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bai
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D054022:Cerebrum / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D000068356:Self-Control; D012742:Sex Offenses; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: childhood sexual abuse; emotion regulation; functional neuroimaging; juvenile sexual offenders