Perceived Discrimination, Experiences of Trauma, and Psychological Functioning Among Juvenile Court-Involved Youth

Juvenile court-involved youth (JCIY) experience unique mental health needs, which may be related to disproportionate experiences of trauma and discrimination; however, our understanding of these relationships continues to evolve. Our objective was to examine links between perceived discrimination, experiences of trauma, and multiple aspects of psychological functioning among JCIY.

We administered cross-sectional surveys to 99 youth on probation. We assessed perceived discrimination and prior experiences of trauma with validated instruments. Psychological measures included mindfulness, resilience, future orientation, difficulties in emotion regulation, psychological distress, and psychological inflexibility. We used multivariable linear regression to examine associations between perceived discrimination, prior trauma, and each psychological measure, adjusting for age, racial/ethnic identity, and sexual orientation.

Mean age was 16.2 (SD: 1.4) years. Most participants (n = 85; 86%) were male and Black/African American (n = 60; 61%). About one fifth (n = 21; 21%) identified as a sexual minority. Many youth reported experiences of trauma (n = 74; 75%) and discrimination (n = 77; 78%). We found that prior trauma was significantly associated with greater difficulties in emotion regulation ( : 0.08 [0.01, 0.15]) and greater psychological inflexibility ( : 1.28 [0.38, 2.19]), adjusting for covariates. Perceived discrimination was only associated with increased psychological inflexibility ( : 0.90 [0.19, 1.61]).

We demonstrate nuanced relationships between prior trauma, experiences of discrimination, and psychological functioning among JCIY. Results indicate the need for healing-centered approaches to support mental health that consider the unique patterns of emotional processing and expression in this population.