Depression, anxiety, and drug usage history indicators among institutionalized juvenile offenders of Brasilia

Antonio Pedro M Cruz,Manuella C Da Silva,Maria O Teixeira

doi:10.1186/s41155-021-00184-x

Antonio Pedro M Cruz, Manuella C Da Silva + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41155-021-00184-x

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Abstract

IntroductionOne of the most serious socio-educational measures for children and adolescents in conflict with the law in Brazil is their internment. This measure may represent an additional source of stress to this population and present significant impacts in the mental health context. This study aims to describe anxiety levels, depression, and addictive consumption, as well as to estimate the causalities and interactions of these variables.MethodsHerein, we report a study in which 175 male juveniles from youth detention institutions of the Federal District voluntarily completed the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and a short self-rating questionnaire asking whether and how often they had experienced cannabis, alcohol, and other “hard” psychotropic drugs (e.g., crack, cocaine, amphetamine) 1 year prior to institutionalization.ResultsOf the total participants, 28.00% showed moderate to severe depression scores and 34.28% showed moderate to severe anxiety scores. In addition, the vast majority of participants also reported some antecedent drug abuse, including cannabis, alcohol, and other “hard drugs.” The BDI scores moderately correlated with BAI, but none of these parameters considerably correlated with the antecedent drug abuse.ConclusionsThe data indicate potentially concerning levels of emotional distress in these institutionalized juveniles which seem to be independent of addictive behaviors. These data deserve attention and further investigation. Thus, a need for preventative mental health for the general population and socio-educational intervention aimed at interned youth which can decrease levels of emotional stress is emphasized.

Highlights

One of the most serious socio-educational measures for children and adolescents in conflict with the law in Brazil is their internment
Taking the relative cut-off ranges for depression and anxiety, moderate to severe depression accounted for about 28% of participants, while moderate to severe anxiety accounted for about 34.28% of participants
Our findings show that participants with moderate to severe scores on the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) (28.00%) and participants with moderate to severe scores on the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) (34.28%) present about four times these rates, which indicates potentially concerning levels of depression and anxiety in these institutionalized juvenile offenders

Summary

Introduction

One of the most serious socio-educational measures for children and adolescents in conflict with the law in Brazil is their internment. This measure may represent an additional source of stress to this population and present significant impacts in the mental health context. This incidence is due to the violence of the offense committed for the first time by these juveniles (e.g., homicide, robbery, armed violence), and because many of them often remain in the youth detention institution until the maximum sentence date (3 years) or become repeat juvenile offenders. The comparison with prisons was frequent due to the prevalence of closed spaces, high walls, plurality of gates, twisted wires, and other security structures, as well as the difficulty of the adolescents to live with their family and community (Coscioni, Costa, Rosa, and Koller, 2017)

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