The Role of Psychosocial Maturity in Preventing Substance Use and Delinquency Among First-Time Juvenile Offenders

Introduction: Among first-time offending, court-involved, non-incarcerated (CINI) juveniles, there is a gap in our knowledge about factors that might be unique to this population to consider when developing and implementing health risk behavior interventions in juvenile diversion settings including drug use, HIV/STI risk behaviors, and mental health symptoms. Preventing these negative outcomes for youth is an important public health issue. Clinical research has identified various differences between adolescents and adults in emotional and behavioral performance, collectively referred to as psychosocial maturity (PM). Research has consistently found a relationship between psychosocial immaturity and antisocial decision-making, demonstrating that PM predicts delinquency beyond the effects of age, gender, education, socioeconomic status, race, and antisocial decision-making.  However, the role of PM has never been explored in terms of its association with other risk behaviors, such as substance use, particularly among first-time offending CINI youth.

Methods:Participants were recruited as part of an epidemiological study of first-time offending CINI juveniles (200 status and 200 delinquent) and an involved caregiver. Juveniles completed baseline risk behavior measures (ARBA for risk behaviors and NYS for delinquency) in their home/community using tablet-based ACASI. The current presentation examines baseline data of developmental factors (PM) that contribute to the engagement in risk behaviors (e.g., substance use, mental health symptoms, sexually transmitted infections, and recidivism). Psychosocial maturity was measured through standardized measures (ie., Future Outlook Inventory; Psychosocial Maturity Inventory; Weinberger Adjustment Inventory Impulse Control, Suppression of Aggression, and Consideration of Others scales; and Resistance to Peer Influence scale) consistent with other studies of PM among juvenile offenders. 

Results: The sample is approximately 55% male and median age of 15 years. The racial distribution is diverse (41% Caucasian, 18% African American, 10% American Indian, 1% Asian, 17% mixed race, and 20% other). Thirty–four percent of youth reported lifetime alcohol use and 50% reported lifetime marijuana use. Analyses indicate that lower developmental maturity was significantly related to higher rates of lifetime alcohol use, lifetime marijuana use, and delinquent behavior (p < .0001).

Conclusions: PM may provide a framework for understanding how to prevent health risk behaviors at the point of initial court contact. When developing interventions for CINI youth to prevent future risk behaviors, interventions may consider how the unique characteristics of adolescent development can be assimilated into the foundation of future prevention efforts. Recognizing that individual youth of the same age may present at different stages of development and require tailored interventions to meet their needs can inform implementation.