© 2005 American Public Health Association DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2003.024737
Gail A. Wasserman and Larkin S. McReynolds are with the Center for Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice, Division of Child Psychiatry, Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York. Susan J. Ko is with the National Center for Child Traumatic Stress at the University of California, Los Angeles. Laura M. Katz is with The Analytica Group, Inc, New York. Jennifer R. Carpenter is with the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, Austin. Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Gail A. Wasserman, PhD, Center for Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice, Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, 1051 Riverside Drive, Unit 78, New York, NY 10032 (e-mail: wassermg{at}childpsych.columbia.edu).
Objective. We identified gender differences in psychiatric disorders among youths at probation intake. Methods. We measured disorders with the Voice Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children among 991 randomly selected youths (200 girls) at probation intake in 8 Texas counties. Logistic regression analyses predicted diagnostic clusters by gender, adjusting for demographics and offense characteristics. Results. Demographic and offense characteristics explained small but interpretable and specific variance in diagnostic profile. Girls rates of anxiety and affective disorders were higher than boys (odds ratios = 0.59 and 0.32, respectively). Girls with violent offenses, compared with other groups, were 3 to 5 times as likely to report anxiety disorders. Conclusions. Among youths with conduct problems, girls demonstrated an elevated risk for co-occurring anxiety or affective disorder.
Antisocial behavior is far more characteristic of boys than of girls: girls conduct disorder (CD) rates are approximately half boys rates1; across all types of criminal activity, only 28% of arrested youths are female.2 This gender disparity has led some3 to propose a "gender paradox," whereby the gender group less likely to be disordered has a more severe form or presentation of the disorder. This theory suggests that antisocial girls will be more impaired across co-occurring dimensions than are antisocial boys and, accordingly, may have elevated mental health problems.5,8 Although community samples report moderate co-occurrence of internalizing (anxiety and affective) and externalizing (disruptive behavior and substance use) disorders in both genders,9 and sometimes higher co-occurrence in adolescent and young adult female subjects than in male subjects,10,11 even stronger associations might be expected when conduct problems are sufficiently severe to result in justice system contact.11 Associations between conduct and mood symptoms or diagnoses increase with age, particularly for female patients, perhaps reflecting secondary adverse mental health consequences for antisocial girls.9 A growing body of literature, predominantly focusing on male subjects, considers the epidemiology of psychiatric disorder among youths in justice settings.12 With few exceptions,13 little is known about the mental health status and service needs among the increasing proportion of girls with justice system contact. Recently, Teplin et al.13 reported higher disorder rates for girls than for boys in juvenile detention, consistent with studies of adult female detainees.14 Recently, we12 reported high levels of psychiatric disorder among incarcerated male youths. Here, we extend these findings to study girls in the justice system, comparing their rates of disorder to those of boys at probation intake and examining the contribution of both demographic and justice-related characteristics to the presence and co-occurrence of disorder. We hypothesize that prevalence of disorder, beyond that expectably related to delinquency (disruptive behavior and substance use), will be higher in girls, whereas externalizing disorders will occur at similar rates for boys and girls.
In 2001, the Texas Legislature provided for a prevalence survey of mental health needs among youths in the care of the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission (TJPC). The TJPC conducted diagnostic screening assessments during the intake process for youths formally referred to juvenile probation departments in Texas 8 most populous counties (Bexar, Cameron, Dallas, El Paso, Harris, Hidalgo, Tarrant, and Travis). In general, complaints by parents, police, or other agencies regarding a youths delinquent conduct, conduct indicating a need for supervision, or violation of probation are brought to the attention of probation authorities ("intake"). Those authorities determine whether the referral should be the subject of formal court action ("formal referrals"), with less serious cases receiving less serious sanctions. The present report only considers youths who were formally referred.15 Participation was voluntary.
Subjects The 253 nonparticipating youths who were approached included 17 (1.4% of those approached) who refused, 6 (< 1%) with oral English skills judged insufficient to complete assessment, and 12 (1%) excluded because of technical or logistical difficulties. Records for 14.1% of approached youths (n = 176) were excluded because of problems with data retrieval; 3.4% of approached youths did not participate for other, unspecified, reasons (n = 42). Reasons for nonparticipation did not differ by gender.
Procedure
Measures Psychiatric assessment. The DISC18,19 is a family of highly structured psychiatric interviews, based on Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition criteria,1 and has been used in research investigating prevalence of disorders among youths in the justice system.13,2023 The Voice version generates past-month disorders, based on pre-recorded questions delivered via headphones (viewed simultaneously on a computer screen). We examined 21 disorders grouped into four diagnostic clusters12: disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs), substance use disorders (SUDs), affective disorders, and anxiety disorders. We considered DBDs and SUDs to be externalizing disorders; affective disorders and anxiety disorders reflect internalizing disorders. Because of questions regarding the capacity of youths in the justice system to accurately report impairment,12 analyses consider criteria without impairment.
Statistical Methods
Sample Characteristics Table 1
Among approached youths, participants had more prior referrals (t604.2 =5.26, P =.000) and had completed more years of school (t1210 =2.95, P =.031) than nonparticipants; there were no other significant differences between participants and nonparticipants.
For the most part, the present sample reflected the statewide composition of the Texas juvenile probation population (Table 1
Gender Differences
Table 2
Although rates of CD did not differ between boys and girls, we examined whether they differed regarding which particular symptoms they endorsed. Boys were significantly higher only in breaking and entering (10.6% vs 4.7%, 21 = 6.11, P = .013) and staying out late (6.2% vs 2.1%, 21 = 4.92, P= .026). Girls were significantly higher only in lying (10.0% vs 5.2%, 21 = 5.95, P = .015), nonconfrontational stealing (32.6% vs 17.9%, 21 = 20.00, P = .000), and running away (16.3% vs 6.0%, 21 = 21.73, P = .000). To determine whether the substantial gender difference in nonconfrontational stealing strongly influenced our finding of no gender difference in CD, we repeated analyses without this symptom; boys and girls remained similar in rates of CD.
As in our earlier reports, we did not include separation anxiety disorder when calculating the anxiety diagnostic cluster. Rates of separation anxiety disorder (Table 2
Predicting Disorder from Demographic and Criminal Offense Characteristics
Anxiety disorders were significantly more common in girls, in those younger at first referral, and in those charged with a violent offense. The significant gender interaction indicated that girls charged with violent crimes were 3 to 5 times more likely than other groups to report anxiety disorders; for comparisons with nonviolent girls, violent boys, and nonviolent boys, OR = 3.17, OR = 5.51, and OR = 4.29 (P= .005, P= .000, and P= .000), respectively (Figure 1
Youths reporting disruptive behavior disorders had significantly more prior justice contact and were less likely to be African American than White. Living with a close relative decreased the likelihood of a disruptive disorder somewhat. The significant gender interaction (Figure 1
Those with SUDs were older, had significantly more prior referrals, and were less likely to be African American (compared with White). There was a significant gender-by-violence interaction (Figure 1
Co-occurring Disorders
Compared with boys, girls at probation intake reported more internalizing disorders, consistent with community samples, even when we controlled for personal and offense characteristics. Expectably, given that youths had to have engaged in serious misbehavior for inclusion, gender differences in externalizing disorders were not found. Despite the lack of a gender difference in rates of CD overall, girls were more likely than boys to report covert CD symptoms. Given the presence of a disorder "expectable" in a justice sample (DBD or SUD), girls were more likely to also endorse internalizing disorders. Demographic and offense characteristics explained small but interpretable and specific variance in diagnostic profile. Girls charged with violent offenses, compared with other groups, were 3 to 5 times as likely to report anxiety disorders. Among youths already demonstrating conduct problems by virtue of their probation processing, findings demonstrated an elevated risk for internalizing disorders in girls. Regarding co-occurring disorders, then, we find support for the operation of a gender paradox for antisocial girls whereby they are more impaired across co-occurring dimensions than are their male counterparts.
Gender Differences in Co-occurring Internalizing Disorders Higher rates of internalizing disorders are consistently found in girls with CD compared with boys.6,7 Although rates of most disorders, including internalizing disorders, are higher overall in the present justice sample than in community samples,25 the relatively higher prevalence for internalizing disorders in girls persists. Longitudinal comparisons demonstrate9 that from age 13 across adolescence, the severity of depressive symptoms worsens substantially more for conduct-disordered girls than for other groups of girls or boys. Over time, having CD predicted subsequent affective disorder substantially more strongly for girls. Our cross-sectional data, at a mean age of 15 years, are consistent in demonstrating girls higher rates of co-occurring affective disorder in those with demonstrated conduct problems. What remains unclear is the process by which girls conduct problems elevate risk for subsequent affective disorder.
Anxiety disorders.
Girls rates were elevated, although not significantly so, for PTSD, Separation Anxiety Disorder, and Agoraphobia. Although the present sample size is quite large, the power to detect gender differences in low-prevalence disorders is limited (e.g., the power to detect the significance of the nearly doubled rate of girls PTSD was only 42.4%). With a smaller sample, Abram et al.26 reported no gender differences in rates of PTSD in a Chicago detention center and higher rates for both sexes than in the current sample (overall, 12% vs 4%), highlighting again the setting-specific nature of prevalence rates. Because only 32% of the TJPCs intakes statewide are detained for more than 24 hours,27 the present sample likely includes fewer youths with more serious criminal activity and correspondingly fewer with traumatic exposures. Although we did not find PTSD rates to be significantly different between boys and girls, we found gender differences in the reported PTSD-triggering events: girls were more likely to report forced sexual activity (25.9% of girls vs 5.7% of boys;
Characterizing Juvenile Justice Samples The presence of an association between justice processing and anxiety disorder also underscores the importance of clear sample definitions in such studies. The juvenile justice system is anything but monolithic: differences occur across jurisdictions in characteristics of youths who enter, and across settings (secure or community) and processing (intake, postadjudication). Unfortunately, prior investigations have not always been clear about the point in processing when youths in the justice system are assessed or have combined youths assessed at multiple points. For example, 1 recent study of juveniles with justice system contact included youths regardless of their current placement (secure or community) and without consideration of when in processing they were assessed.22,28 In another recent investigation, based on checklist data with detained youths,29 only 30% were assessed within a day after intake (compared with 70% of the present sample): declining rates of depressive symptoms across days detained29 perhaps eliminated a gender difference that might have been detected at intake.30 Researchers and policymakers alike must strive for clarity in defining the juvenile justice samples on which prevalence estimates are based. Because setting and processing variations impact importantly on reported mental health concerns, a recent report by the National Council on Disability31 called for research assessing the prevalence of disabilities (including psychiatric) that moves beyond incarcerated samples to examine all stages of juvenile justice system processing. The present findings suggest that if we assess youths at system entry, rates of disorder may well be lower than those generated from systematic studies of incarcerated youths.12,13 Importantly, anxiety disorders appear to be comparably high at various transitions in justice processing (the current probation intake, entry into detention,13 or entry to lengthier incarceration),12 perhaps reflecting youths concerns about future sanctions. As the implications for case identification and intervention are substantial, researchers need to provide juvenile justice agencies with accurate prevalence estimates so that they can anticipate such differences in rates of disorder across processing.
Programming Implications
Limitations Finally, as noted, despite large sample size, power was limited to detect gender differences for low-prevalence disorders; systematic study with larger samples across multiple processing points would allow researchers and policymakers alike to better characterize the scope of mental health needs in this very vulnerable population.
This work was supported by funding from the Carmel Hill Fund to the Center for Promotion of Mental Health in Juvenile Justice, Columbia University (see http://www.promotementalhealth.org). We thank Erin Espinosa, Vonzo Tolbert, and Bill Bryan at the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission for assistance with data collection.
Contributors G. A. Wasserman originated the study and supervised all aspects of its implementation. L. S. McReynolds coordinated data collection and completed the analyses. G. A. Wasserman, S. J. Ko, and L. S. McReynolds contributed to the writing of all sections. L. M. Katz was responsible for data linkage, conducted initial analyses, and contributed to the Methods and Results sections. J. R. Carpenter assisted with data collection and the abstraction of automated justice records.
Human Participant Protection Accepted for publication February 18, 2004.
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