Adverse childhood experiences, anger, and violence among justice-involved youth: A network analysis

Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are a complex construct that can be viewed as a network of interconnected adversities, with some interactions being substantially stronger than others. However, relatively little is known about the complex interactions between adversities in justice-involved youth (JIY). Moreover, even less is known about the pathways through which early adverse experiences contribute to violent offending.

The present study aimed to identify the most influential adverse event(s) within a network structure of adversity. It also investigated one of the pathways through which ACEs contributed to violent offending.

We used archival data consisting of 4591 JIY in a large urban juvenile probation department in Texas, United States.

We employed network analysis to investigate the network structure of ten types of adversity and how the complex interactions of adversity contributed to violent offending through the pathway of anger.

The network analysis results revealed that physical abuse and physical neglect were the most influential adversities within the ACEs network. Anger was positively and directly linked to all adversities except parental separation/divorce, controlling for other adversities in the network. Only emotional abuse and anger directly predicted the higher likelihood of violent offending within the one-year follow-up, accounting for the effects of other adversities in the model.

Given the complexity of existing evidence-based interventions, combined with the limited resources in the juvenile justice system, tailoring these interventions specifically related to physical abuse and physical neglect could enhance feasibility without significantly compromising effectiveness for JIY. The deleterious impact of anger on violent offending highlights the need for interventions that address not only the broader system of environmental risks but also person-level criminogenic needs.