Stress, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Problems in a Sample of Diversion Program Youths: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis

Authors

Richard Dembo, University of South FloridaFollow
Rhissa Briones-Robinson, University of South FloridaFollow
Laura M. Gulledge, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Lora M. Karas, 13th Judicial CircuitFollow
Ken C. Winters, University of MinnesotaFollow
Steven Belenko, Temple UniversityFollow
Paul Greenbaum, University of South FloridaFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2012

School

Criminal Justice, Forensic Science, and Security

Abstract

Reflective of interest in mental health and substance abuse issues among youths involved with the justice system, we performed a latent class analysis on baseline information collected on 100 youths involved in two diversion programs. Results identified two groups of youths: Group 1: a majority of the youths, who had high levels of delinquency, mental health, and substance abuse issues; and Group 2: youths with low levels of these problems. Comparison of these two groups on a variety of psychosocial measures and parent/guardian reports found differences between them that were consistent with their problem group classification. Follow-up analysis confirmed problem behavior that was consistent with the youths' latent class placement. Implications of the findings for research and practice are presented.

Comments

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in 'Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse' on 4/2012, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/1067828X.2012.662115.

Publication Title

Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse

Volume

21

Issue

2

First Page

130

Last Page

155

Recommended Citation

Dembo, R., Briones-Robinson, R., Gulledge, L. M., Karas, L. M., Winters, K. C., Belenko, S., Greenbaum, P. (2012). Stress, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Problems in a Sample of Diversion Program Youths: An Exploratory Latent Class Analysis. Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, 21(2), 130-155.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/196