title: Success in School for Justice-Involved Girls: Do Specific Aspects of Developmental Immaturity Matter?
abstract: Developmental immaturity (DI) may help explain some of the variability in aspects of academic achievement among girls in the juvenile justice system, a population with high rates of truancy, dropout, and school failure. This study examined the relationships among the decision making and independent functioning components of DI, verbal intelligence, and academic achievement within this population. Using data from 60 girls in residential juvenile justice facilities, multiple regression analyses indicated that verbal IQ moderated the relationship between the DI construct of decision making and academic achievement. Self-reported school attendance and number of previous arrests did not significantly mediate the relationship between DI and academic achievement. These results may indicate that the decision-making factor of DI may be particularly important, and, if results are replicated, future intervention efforts could focus more on improving this skill within this juvenile justice population. Additionally, the overall importance of the full DI construct is an important area of future study.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology & Thomas R. Kline School of Law, Drexel University.
authors.forename: Emily
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haney-Caron
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Drexel University.
authors.forename: Naomi E S
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.affiliation: Philadelphia Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services.
authors.forename: Christy L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Giallella
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Alpert Medical School, Brown University.
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kemp
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Wheaton College.
authors.forename: Christina Riggs
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Romaine
keywords: academic achievement; developmental immaturity; gender; juvenile justice