Adverse childhood experiences and deviant peer affiliation among Chinese delinquent adolescents: the role of relative deprivation and age.

Background: Deviant peer affiliation is considered a potential risk factor for adolescent delinquency. Due to the serious situation of adolescent delinquency in China, it is necessary to investigate the mechanisms by which adolescents associate with deviant peers. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and deviant peer affiliation, the mediating effect of relative deprivation, and the moderating effect of age in a sample of Chinese delinquent adolescents. Methods: Five hundred and forty-two Special School students aged 11-18 years were interviewed and completed questionnaires, including demographics, adverse childhood experiences, deviant peer affiliation, and relative deprivation. Results: (1) After controlling for gender, adverse childhood experiences and deviant peer affiliation were significantly and positively associated among delinquent adolescents. (2) The effect of ACEs on deviant peer affiliation was mediated by relative deprivation. (3) Age played a moderating role not only in the relationship between ACEs and relative deprivation, but also in the indirect relationship in which ACEs influence deviant peer affiliation through relative deprivation; specifically, the indirect effect of ACEs influencing deviant peer affiliation through relative deprivation was stronger in early adolescence compared with late adolescence. Conclusion: Overall, early ACEs play an important role in deviant peer affiliation among delinquent adolescents and relative deprivation is an important mediating variable. The results of the present study emphasize the importance of cognitive interventions for delinquent adolescents who experience ACEs in early adolescence, which may be instructive for the prevention of adolescent delinquency.

Atendimento odontológico a adolescentes infratores: abordagem qualitativa em clínica de graduação / Dental care for delinquent adolescents: qualitative approach in an undergraduate dental clinic

Esse estudo avaliou a percepção de adolescentes infratores sobre a convivência familiar e dentro da instituição, sobre a saúde geral e bucal. Foi adotada abordagem qualitativa, com a participação de adolescentes infratores (13 a 17 anos) em processo de ressocialização. Esses adolescentes estavam sendo atendidos em clínica odontológica por alunos de graduação, sob supervisão docente. Após assinatura do termo de consentimento, os adolescentes foram entrevistados, sendo suas falas gravadas, transcritas e submetidas à análise de conteúdo. Para a maioria dos adolescentes, a família foi definida como um espaço de conflitos e distante das suas vidas diárias. Na instituição, eles relataram múltiplas e variadas atividades, esportivas, de arte e educação, que devem ser cumpridas em horários rígidos. Todos falaram, em algum momento da entrevista, sobre a recompensa com diferentes "benefícios", pelo bom comportamento dentro da instituição, sendo a liberdade o mais desejado por todos. A saúde foi definida como: emprego, acesso a programas educativos, acesso a cuidados médicos e de enfermagem e participação nos cursos oferecidos na instituição. Aspectos pessoais de autocuidado, como uma boa alimentação, a prática de esportes e a higiene do corpo foram também citados como determinantes da saúde. Para alguns deles, saúde é liberdade, abandono das drogas e do crime. A saúde bucal foi definida como higiene bucal por todos os adolescentes (AU).

This study evaluated the perception of delinquent adolescents toward family, the correctional institution they attended, and oral and general health. We adopted a qualitative approach with the participation of adolescents (age 13­17) in the process of re-socialization. The adolescents were being treated in a dental clinic by undergraduate students under supervision. After signing a consent form, the adolescents were interviewed and their statements were recorded, transcribed and submitted to content analysis. For most adolescents, family was defined as an area of conflict and remote from their daily lives. As for their correctional institution, they reported that it offered several different activities, sports, art and education, all of which had to be completed according to a rigorous schedule. At some point in the interview, all mentioned the reward gained from different "benefits" for good behavior within the institution, and the greater freedom desired by all. Health was defined as employment, access to educational programs, access to medical care and nursing, and participation in courses offered at the institution. Personal aspects of self-care, such as a good food, sports practice and body hygiene, were also mentioned as determinants of health. To some, health meant freedom, abandonment of drugs and of crime. Oral health was defined by all adolescents as oral hygiene (AU).

Discriminative Factor Analysis of Delinquent Behavior in Korea / 신경정신의학

OBJECTIVES: The present study was intended to analyse discriminative factors between student adolescents and delinquent adolescents in Korea, and to develop therapeutic and preventive strategies for preventing juvenile delinquent behavior. METHODS: The research design of this study was a questionnaire survey with individual interviews and reference of the record materials of the school and corrective institutions. Subjects served for this study consisted of 2,375 adolescents(1,254 student adolescents and 1,121 delinquent adolescents) in Korea, sampled from Korean student population and adolescent delinquent population confined in 6 juvenile corrective institutions and 2 classification judging institutions, using the proportional stratified random sampling method. Their age range was between 12 and 21. The actual number of cases put into the analyses was 2,167 including 1,196 student adolescents and 971 delinquent adolescents. Data were analysed by the SAS program. Statistical methods employed were Chi-square, t-test, and logistic regression analysis etc. RESULTS: The discriminative factors between student adolescents and delinquent adolescents were smoking, alcohol use, drug use, viewing time of media violence such as murder and violence scenes on TV etc, sexual abuse and viewing time of pornography. Among these discriminative factors, the strongest factor was smoking. Delinquent adolescents showed a higher rate of smoking than student adolescents. That is, smoking adolescents showed 32.32 of odds ratio comparing with the non-smoking adolescents group. The other discriminative factors were alcohol use(10.38 of odds ratio), drug use(2.95 of odds ratio), viewing time of violent media(1.78 of odds ratio), sexual abuse(1.68 of odds ratio) and viewing time of pornography(1.25 of odds ratio). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, it was found that smoking served as the strongest discriminative factor between student adolescents and delinquent adolescents. That is, smoking adolescents showed a higher frequency of delinquent behavior than non-smoking adolescents. However, the author recommended that a strong, reliable correlation between smoking and juvenile crime is probably not a simple causal one. Rather, a complex relationship between smoking and juvenile criminal behavior results from the probable effects of multiple interactive physiological, psychological, environmental, situational, social and cultural factors.