Differentiating crossover youth: Examining psychological characteristics in a multicultural Australian youth justice cohort

Abstract

The association between childhood maltreatment and juvenile offending has been well-established, with a significant proportion of justice-involved young people being found to have child protection service histories. However, it is unclear what psychological factors contribute to this complex relationship. This study aimed to compare levels of impulsivity, impulsive aggression, psychopathology, and a sensitivity to anger, as well as gender and ethnocultural background, across justice-involved youth with and without a child protection history. The study sample comprised 215 young people detained in juvenile detention centers across two sites in Victoria, Australia between July 2011 and June 2012. Measures of impulsivity, impulsive aggression, internalizing and externalizing behaviors, and sensitivity to anger were administered and compared amongst those who had previously been the subject of a child protection order and those without such histories. Results of logistic regression analyses indicated that impulsivity and impulsive aggression were independently associated with having a child protection history in justice-involved youth. Ethnocultural background was also significantly associated with having a child protection history. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.