Abstract
In adulthood and adolescence, mental health vulnerability is known to be associated with risk of criminal justice system contact as both a perpetrator and survivor of crime, but whether this association is apparent early in child development is unknown. Prevention of poor outcomes, including repeated contact with the criminal justice system, relies on the identification of vulnerability early in life and at the start of such contact. To ascertain whether children with emotional or behavioral problems and general developmental vulnerabilities are at an increased risk of subsequent contact with police as a person of interest, a survivor of crime, or a witness. This cohort study used routinely collected data from the New South Wales Child Development Study in Australia. The cohort was composed of children who entered full-time schooling in New South Wales in 2009, had complete data for the emotional maturity domain of the Australian Early Development Census, and had no police contact before January 1, 2009. The children in the cohort were followed up until the age of 13 years. Data were analyzed from October 17, 2019, to May 13, 2020. Emotional or behavioral problems and developmental risk profiles derived from the teacher-rated Australian Early Development Census. Incidence rates of police contact (as a person of interest, survivor of crime, or witness) were derived from the New South Wales Police Force Computerised Operational Policing System. A total of 79 801 children (40 584 boys [50.9%]; 2009 mean [SD] age, 5.2 [0.37] years) were included. Children with teacher-identified emotional or behavioral problems at school entry had an incidence rate of police contact (for any reason) that was twice that of children without such problems (unadjusted hazard ratio [HR], 2.14; 95% CI, 1.94-2.37). Contact with police as a survivor of crime was most commonly recorded (7350 [9.2%]), but the strength of the association was greatest between emotional or behavioral problems and police contact as a person of interest (unadjusted HR, 4.75; 95% CI, 3.64-6.19). Incidence of police contact as a person of interest was high for children with a pervasive developmental risk profile (unadjusted HR, 13.80; 95% CI, 9.79-19.45). This study found an association of emerging emotional or behavioral problems and developmental vulnerabilities with increased risk of police contact for any reason among young children, suggesting that this well-known association in adults and adolescents can be identified at an earlier developmental stage. These findings support primary and secondary interventions to prevent police contact early in life and to target the earliest contacts with the criminal justice and educational systems.
Highlights
Children with teacher-identified emotional or behavioral problems at school entry had an incidence rate of police contact that was twice that of children without such problems
Contact with police as a survivor of crime was most commonly recorded (7350 [9.2%]), but the strength of the association was greatest between emotional or behavioral problems and police contact as a person of interest
Incidence of police contact as a person of interest was high for children with a pervasive developmental risk profile
Summary
Contact with the criminal justice system is associated with adverse outcomes across the life course in the domains of mental and physical health, educational and occupational attainment, and risk of repeated criminal justice involvement, especially for those who had contact with the justice system after offense perpetration in adolescence and/or adulthood.[1,2] Those with early contact are more likely to display a range of antecedent vulnerabilities at the individual, familial, and community levels.[3,4] The rates of criminal justice system contact as an offender or as a survivor of crime are known to be elevated among adults with mental illness.[5,6,7] this elevated risk is evident in adolescents with mental disorders,[8] the extent to which the association between police contact and mental illness exists in childhood is less well understood. The presence of shared risk factors between early mental health problems and early criminal justice system contact (such as trauma,[9,10,11] socioeconomic disadvantage,[12,13,14] and parental vulnerabilities15,16), at least in the context of offending, supports the likelihood that this association would emerge in childhood. Individuals with mental illness are known to be at an increased risk of police contact, both as a potential offender and as a survivor of crime, at least during adolescence and adulthood.[7,17,18,19] The extent to which emerging mental health problems might predispose young children to early police contact has not yet been systematically examined, despite the importance of developing evidenceinformed early identification and intervention strategies, including incorporating trauma-informed approaches to system and service responses.[20]
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