Depression and somatic complaints among male juvenile offenders: Differentiating somatizers from non-somatizers with the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI)

Abstract

A review of the current literature suggests that comorbidity exists between depression, somatization, and suicidal ideation among behaviorally disruptive adolescents. A study was designed to determine how these clinical characteristics and other clinical indicators measured by the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory differentiate between male detained juvenile offenders who somatize and those that do not. A combination of analysis of variance tests and predictive and discriminant analyses were employed. Results revealed that depressive affect, self-devaluation, dolefulness, and suicidal tendencies significantly discriminated between somatizers and non-somatizers. A total of 71.1% of the participants were correctly classified as a somatizer or non-somatizer using a function of these variables. Results are discussed in light of how the presence of somatization in this population can indicate a need for mental health intervention for symptoms and syndromes of depressive disorders and suicidal risk.