Risk-Taking Among Early Versus Late Onset Young Offenders

• In Event: Multidimensional Perspective on Youth Delinquency: A Clinical Scientific Culture

Abstract

Offenders who started delinquency at an early age have a more severe trajectory than those who started later. The understanding of the risk-taking tendency of early-onset delinquent is still needed. Some researchers have shown that cortisol dysfunctions (stress hormone) are associated with early consumption of psychoactive substances, impulsivity, risk-taking and high-risk behaviours. To improve knowledge on risk-taking, the current pilot study assessed whether young offenders with an early onset (before 14 years old) of delinquent behaviours exhibit lower cortisol activity, and more problematic substance use, impulsivity, risk-taking and high-risk behaviours than offenders with later onset. This study recruited 20 male young offenders (15-18 years old) from the Montreal Young Center. Participants came to two sessions where they: 1) answered questionnaires (substance use, impulsivity, high-risk behaviours) and performed risk-taking tasks; 2) provided seven cortisol saliva samples during a stress task (basal and reactivity measures). These results suggested that early-onset young offenders present more externalizing problems and trends for alcohol abuse problem, drug abuse problem and risk-taking propensity compared to late-onset offenders. Exploratory analyses suggest that cortisol activity is linked differently to risk-taking among early and late-onset offenders. Enhancing the comprehension of risk-taking propensity of young offenders will help better tailored intervention.

Authors

• Sophie Couture, Montreal Youth Center-University Institute / Université de Montréal

• Thomas G. Brown, McGill University

• Marie Claude Ouimet, Université de Sherbrooke

• Catherine Laurier, Montreal Youth Center-University Institute

• Pierrich Plusquellec, Université de Montréal