Violence Exposure, Mental Health, Cognitive Functioning, and Disabilities in Incarcerated Youth

The goal of the present study was to ascertain incidence rates of violence exposure (VE) and disabilities in a population of incarcerated male adolescents using records searches, survey research, and individual academic and cognitive testing.

A sample of 115 incarcerated male youth completed self-reported measures of VE, including adverse childhood experiences (ACE), child abuse and neglect, interpersonal Violence experiences (IPV), and community violence exposure (CV), and current functioning and individual testing of cognition and disability diagnosis (both cognitive and mental health).

Two-thirds of the participants reported high ACE, 90% experienced at least mild physical abuse, and one-third reported severe prior sexual abuse (SA) using the CTQ. Over 60% had a prior disability in their records, and over 75% were diagnosable during individual cognitive testing. Just over 50% of youth were diagnosable with a mental health diagnosis, and with cognitive disabilities, the incidence rate increased to 85% of the population. Youth with disabilities had higher rates of VE.

Few studies combine data related to prior VE, disability diagnosis using individual measures, and test for current cognitive functioning in incarcerated youth. The present study determined that high rates of disability were largely driven by cognitive and academic disabilities, rather than mental health problems, indicating a pervasive problem with cognitive disabilities in youth who are incarcerated. Cognitive disabilities, particularly in youth with prior histories of VE, are an intervention point that has the potential to reduce recidivism.