Syndemic pathways linking juvenile delinquency, structural vulnerability, and mental health: implications for...

Juvenile delinquency, mental health, social determinants of health, and social support are closely intertwined, yet the structural and relational processes linking them remain underexamined. Using a syndemic framework, this study examined whether structural vulnerability and social support were associated with the relationship between juvenile delinquency and depression and anxiety in a nationally representative sample of youth and young adults in the United States.

After data-quality exclusions, the full survey sample included 5,311 respondents ages 10 to 34 years, and the present analyses were restricted to the 2,658 respondents assigned to the rotating module that included delinquency items. Survey-weighted descriptive analyses and hierarchical regression models were estimated, followed by exploratory parallel mediation analyses. About one-quarter of respondents reported any juvenile delinquency history.

Respondents with delinquency histories showed higher unadjusted depression and anxiety scores, greater adversity, greater social determinants of health burden, and lower social support. In adjusted models, however, the association between delinquency and depression and anxiety was substantially reduced after accounting for structural vulnerability and was further reduced and no longer statistically significant after social support was added. Both indirect associations were statistically significant in exploratory mediation models, and together they accounted for a substantial share of the observed relationship. A small subgroup who reported having been paid for sexual relations showed particularly high adversity and structural burden, although these findings were descriptive only.

These findings suggest that the mental health burden observed among youth with delinquency histories is embedded in broader social and structural disadvantage and may be more effectively addressed through interventions that reduce social determinants of health burden, such as material hardship, and strengthen social support.