Juveniles in a Chinese Correctional School: Close Friend Support, Months in School, and Mental Health

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Eight
  In Roundtable Session: Family, Community, and Belonging in Adolescent Development (Table 12)

Abstract

Mental health problems tend to be prevalent among juvenile delinquents. Surveying 89 juvenile delinquents (on average 15 years old) from a correctional school in China, this study mainly investigated the associations of close friend support and months spent in the correctional school with juvenile delinquents’ mental health problems (hostility, depression, anxiety). Results indicated that when factors such as months spent in the correctional school were controlled, the positive relationship between close friend support and mental health problems disappeared. Importantly, the more months juveniles spent in the correctional school were associated with their lower levels of hostility (B = -0.164, p < 0.05), depression (B = -0.297, p < 0.05), and anxiety (B = -0.295, p < 0.05).

Authors

• Keqiao Liu, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics
  Presenting Author

• Min Xiao, University of Malaya
  Non-Presenting Author

• Xiaogang He, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics
  Non-Presenting Author

• Junjie Ji, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics
  Non-Presenting Author

• Miao Liu, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics
  Non-Presenting Author