NCJ Number
99365
Journal
Adolescence Volume: 20 Issue: 78 Dated: (Summer 1985) Pages: 313-321
Date Published
1985
Length
9 pages
Annotation
Yeaworth, York, Hussey, Ingle, and Goodwin's (1980) Adolescent Life Change Event Scale was administered to 55 adolescents who were on probation or being held in detention for offenses ranging from a felony to conduct indicating a need for supervision (Texas Juvenile Probation Commission, 1983).
Abstract
The offenses committed during the previous 12 months were given weights, and weights obtained by Yeaworth (1980) were used for stress events experienced in the last 12 months. Pearson product moment correlation was computed to obtain a relationship between stress events and offenses. The results suggest that these adolescents are more stressed than nondelinquent adolescents when compared to the Yeaworth (1980) study. Nearly 82 percent of the subjects in the present study had experienced the event of 'failing one or more subjects in school.' The correlation coefficient obtained relating stress events to offenses was -0.01727. The results were interpreted to mean that there is no relationship between total amount of stress experienced and total offenses committed. However, some patterns were found in runaway behavior and truancy that were related to several of the stress events; 87.5 percent of runaway subjects had experienced 'hassling with parents,' and 43.8 percent had experienced a 'family member other than yourself having trouble with alcohol;' 94.1 percent of truancy subjects experienced 'failing one or more subjects in school,' and 64.7 percent had experienced 'getting into drugs or alcohol.' (Author abstract)