Gender, Social Support, and Depression in Criminal Justice-Involved Adolescents

• NCJ Number: 237103
• Journal: International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology Volume: 55 Issue: 7 Dated: October 2011 Pages: 1096-1109
• Author(s): Jennifer E. Johnson; Christianne Esposito-Smythers; Robert Miranda, Jr.; Christie J. Rizzo; Alicia N. Justus; George Clum
• Date Published: October 2011
• Length: 14 pages
• Grant Number(s): K23 DA021159
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study examined the relationships between social support and depression in a mixed-gender sample of 198 incarcerated adolescents.

Abstract

Knowing where criminal justice-involved teens look for support and whether those supports reduce depression has important and possibly gender-specific treatment implications for this vulnerable population. This study examines the relationships between social support and depression in a mixed-gender sample of 198 incarcerated adolescents. Greater support from families and overall and greater satisfaction with supports predicted lower depression for boys and girls. Support from siblings and extended family strongly predicted lower depression; support from parents and from friends was either not related or only weakly related to depression. Girls reported higher levels of depression, more support from friends and extended family, and less support from parents than did boys. Family, sibling, and overall support were stronger predictors of depression for girls than for boys. Results suggest that nonparent family members, especially siblings and extended family, provide important emotional resources for teens in the criminal justice system. (Published Abstract)