The Role of Physical Victimization and Mental Health on Adolescents' Gang Membership

Adolescence is a critical period of heightened susceptibility to gang membership. Given the severe consequences of adolescent gang membership, it has been recognized as a public health concern in need of further investigation. Recent research has adopted a trauma-informed perspective to adolescent gang membership and demonstrated that experiences of childhood trauma exposure are key risk factors propelling youth toward gang participation. The trauma-informed perspective on gang membership has further shown that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) plays a pivotal role in facilitating the link between trauma exposure and adolescent gang membership. However, a significant limitation of the literature is the scarce information regarding the impact of other mental health difficulties, such as major depressive disorder (MDD) and anxiety disorders, on the path between distinct abuse experiences, such as physical victimization, and adolescent gang membership. The present study used a subsample (n = 6,599, 61% youth of color) of the 2018 National Survey of Youth in Custody data to examine the connections among self-reported physical victimization, mental health problems (i.e., PTSD, MDD, and anxiety disorders), and gang membership. Results from path analysis indicated that PTSD helped explain the positive links between physical victimization and gang membership, whereas MDD helped reduce these links, and anxiety disorders had no significant effects. These findings suggest that certain mental health difficulties may place youth at risk of gang membership (e.g., PTSD), whereas others, such as MDD, may mitigate this risk. Ultimately, the results underscore the need to continue using a trauma-informed lens in youth gang research.