Poster #58 - Parent- and Self-Report of Traumatic Events and Psychopathology for Justice-Involved Youth

• In Event: 1-169 - Poster Session 04
  In Poster Session: PS 04 Section - Developmental Psychopathology

Integrative Statement

Background: Emerging research indicates that a higher number of traumatic events are related to poorer psychological outcomes and increased symptomology (Cloitre et al., 2009). Youth that are involved in the justice system have higher rates of experiencing traumatic events than their non-justice-involved peers (Abram, Teplin & Charles, 2004) and disproportionally high rate of mental health problems. Fifty to 70% of juvenile offenders meet criteria for a psychological disorder (Snyder, 2006). As the experience of traumatic events and development of psychological disorders is so prevalent among these youth, it is important to examine the relationship between trauma and psychopathology in the context of the juvenile justice system.

Method: Data was collected from 75 parent-child dyads at the youth’s first contact with the juvenile justice system. Youth were largely male (64%), black/African American (73%), and between the ages of 10 and 15 (m = 13.62). Parent- and self-report versions from a semi-structured interview for DSM-IV symptoms were used to assess the youth’s symptoms in the past year, and lifetime exposure to eight different traumatic events. Regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between number of traumatic events and psychopathology by reporter.

Results: Most of the youth in this sample (89.2%) endorsed at least one traumatic event experienced with average number of events differing by reporter: parent-report with 0.70 events, and self-report with 1.70 events. Most of the events exhibited poor agreement between parent and youth based on kappa values. Across mood, anxiety, and behavior disorders, youth self-reported an average of 9.92 symptoms (sd = 9.37), and parents reported an average of 10.09 (sd = 8.32).

Parent-reported number of traumatic events was significantly associated (p = 0.019) with a greater number of parent-reported symptoms overall. More specifically, parent-reported symptoms of conduct disorder (CD; p = 0.010) and dysthymia (p = 0.054) were significantly associated with a greater number of parent-reported traumatic events, above and beyond the effects of other anxiety and behavior disorder symptoms.

Self-reported number of traumatic events was also significantly associated (p < 0.001) with greater number of self-reported symptoms. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (p = 0.016) and CD (p = 0.007) were associated with a great number of self-reported traumatic events, above and beyond the effects of other self-reported anxiety or behavior disorder symptoms.

Discussion: Consistent with existing literature, data from this study show that the majority of justice-involved youth have experienced one or more traumatic events and exhibit significant levels of psychopathology. Further, this study revealed that parents and youth differ in the type and number of traumatic events reported, and that the relationship between events and psychopathology may differ by reporter. These findings are consistent with emerging evidence that suggests that parent and child report of exposure to traumatic events and impact of traumatic events can be discordant (Stover, Hahn, Im & Berkowitz, 2010). With notable discrepancies between parent and youth report, future studies are required to determine the prognostic utility of assessing for traumatic events for justice-involved youth, and ascertain the best methods for assessment.

Authors

• Oliver Johnston, University of Connecticut
  Presenting Author

• Emilie Bertschinger, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Ari Romano-Verthelyi, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author

• Jeffrey Burke, University of Connecticut
  Non-Presenting Author