Adjudicated Adolescents Located on a State Sex Offender Registry Website as Adults: Common Denominators.

This is a landmark study, the first to use a listing on a state sex offender registry website as a predictive variable for tracking adult recidivism of male adolescents adjudicated for sex offenses, and the longest to follow a cohort of these youth after discharge from a secure residential treatment program. Upon admission, the sample (N = 145) were assessed by JSORRAT-II and MEGA♪, two contemporary standardized, validated risk assessment tools for assessing youth who have engaged in sexually abusive behavior. They were then followed once discharged for 17.08 years into adulthood (mean follow-up = 14.0 years, SD = 1.71). Recidivism rate was 6.2% (defined as a listing for the subject on the California Megan's Law Sex Offender Registry Website). The study offers a baseline for future studies that use a state sex offender registry website as a predictive variable for recidivism. Shared common denominators of recidivists and non-recidivists were risk level (i.e. most were High Risk or Very High Risk on MEGA♪); and having a history of adverse childhood experiences other than sexual abuse (i.e. child neglect/emotional abuse and exposure to domestic violence). A history of sexual abuse, experienced by twice as many non-recidivists as recidivists, differentiated the sample. Recidivists also had fewer protective factors than non-recidivists, as assessed by the MEGA♪ upon admission to the facility. The mean age of recidivists was younger than non-recidivists, suggesting they may have been removed from their home at an early age, and/or had an early onset of persistent coarse sexual improprieties and/or sexually abusive behaviors that persisted into adulthood. The results highlight the importance of integrating trauma-informed interventions in treatment programs for those individuals who are sexually abusive that have a history of multiple adverse childhood experiences.

Scientific Evolution of Clinical and Risk Assessment of Sexually Abusive Youth: A Comprehensive Review of Empirical Tools.

Risk assessment of sexually abusive youth is a specialty, which ideally includes a clinical assessment (e.g., psychological evaluation) utilizing a validated risk assessment tool. This article reviews tools for assessing sexual improprieties and/or sexually abusive behaviors in youth: JSORRAT-II, J-SOAP-II, J-RAS, AIM2, and MEGA♪,1 and a clinical assessment tool, MIDSA. Untested, structured, clinical checklists with face validity, J-RAT-4 and PROFESOR, are included. The authors also highlight clinical dilemmas using "utility tools" (i.e., polygraph and plethysmograph) with sexually abusive youth. The comprehensive review sustains a twenty-first-century New Paradigm of inclusive ecologically based, developmentally and gender-sensitive assessment tools that definitively and accurately assess risk and protective factors of sexually abusive youth.

Comparing Predictive Validity of JSORRAT-II and MEGA♪ With Sexually Abusive Youth in Long-Term Residential Custody.

This 6-year prospective study is the first to compare two psychometrically sound risk assessment tools for sexually abusive youth: JSORRAT-II and MEGA♪. Cross-validated on representative samples of over 500 youth, these measures have cutoff scores, allowing for a more exact assessment of risk. Study sample consisted of 129 male adjudicated adolescents housed in a secured residential treatment facility for sexually abusive youth. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis showed that MEGA♪ Risk Scale was mildly predictive of sexual recidivism over a 6-year period (mean follow-up = 15.6 months)-area under the curve (AUC) = .67; 95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.52, 0.82]; p < .015. JSORRAT-II was not predictive (AUC = .57; 95% CI = [0.42, 0.72]; p < .297). The study contributes to scant literature on the most contemporary, statistically robust risk assessment tools for sexually abusive youth.

MEGA ♪ --Empirical Support for Nomenclature on the Anomalies: Sexually Violent and Predatory Youth.

Applied are empirical findings supporting the authors' previously presented nomenclature identifying two subsets of sexually abusive youth overlooked by most contemporary risk assessment tools: sexually violent and predatory sexually violent youth. The cross-validation findings on an ecologically framed risk assessment tool, MEGA (♪) (Multiplex Empirically Guided Inventory of Ecological Aggregates for Assessing Sexually Abusive Children and Adolescents [Ages 19 and Under]) (N = 1,056 male and female sexually abusive youth, ages 4-19, including youth with low intellectual functioning), from the United States, Canada, England, and Scotland, were utilized. Findings provided normative data, with cutoff scores according to age and gender. Most contemporary risk assessment tools have three levels (low, moderate, and high), which may in fact be limited in assessing the range of risk level. The MEGA (♪) cross-validation established a new range of risk level, with the fourth level (very high) definitively identifying the most dangerous youth, thus empirically supporting the nomenclature of sexually violent and predatory sexually violent youth.