Adolescent Substance Misusers with and without Delinquency: Death, Mental and Physical Disorders, and Criminal Convictions from Age 21 to 45

Criminal thinking and psychosocial characteristics among young adults entering residential substance use treatment

Background and aim: Young adults with substance use (SU) problems face a high risk of co-occurring problems, including criminality. The aim of the present study was to assess the psychosocial characteristics, SU problems, and criminal thinking young adults entering SU treatment have, and whether the SU characteristics, sex and age are associated with criminal thinking scores. Methods: The sample was 407 young adults aged 16-29 years who underwent an entry assessment between January 2011 and December 2016 at a residential SU treatment institution in Norway. All study data were extracted from electronic health records, including survey information from the Achenbach System of Empirically Based Assessment and the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles. Results: In the present sample, severe SU, high rates of psychosocial problems, and criminal thinking were reported. Almost three-quarters (72.67%) of young adults reported high levels of criminal thinking (≥60). However, male participants were more likely to report high levels of criminal thinking compared to female participants (p=0.031). In bivariate regression models, only sex and having stimulants/opioids as primary drug were associated with mean levels of criminal thinking. The same was true in the multiple regression model. Conclusion: Young adults in residential SU treatment are a multi-problem high-risk/high-need group of people. Due to the elevated levels of criminal thinking, we recommend that young adults in SU treatment should be screened for criminogenic treatment needs, such as criminal thinking, regardless of justice involvement.

Trajectories of adolescent poly-substance use and their long-term social and economic outcomes for males from low-income backgrounds

Substance abuse is a significant public health concern that disproportionately burdens males and low-income communities. This study examined (1) longitudinal profiles of male adolescent poly-substance use and (2) their association with social and economic participation across early adulthood. Drawing on a cohort of males (n = 890) from low-income neighborhoods, we used group-based multi-trajectory modeling to identify profiles of poly-substance use (alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, illicit drugs) from age 13-17 years. Regression models were used to link substance use profiles to high school graduation, criminal convictions, personal and household earnings, welfare receipt and partnership from age 19-37 years, obtained from administrative records. Child IQ, family adversity and behavioral problems were adjusted for. Four poly-substance use profiles were identified: abstinent (n = 128, 14.4%), late-onset (n = 412, 46.5%), mid-onset (n = 249, 28.1%), and early-onset (n = 98, 11.1%). Relative to the late-onset (reference) group, participants in the early-onset profile were 3.0 times (95%CI = 1.68-5.53) more likely to have left school without a diploma, 2.7 times (95% CI = 1.56-4.68) more likely to have a criminal conviction by age 24 years, earned 10,185 USD less (95% CI =  - 15,225- - 5144) per year at age 33-37 years and had 15,790 USD lower (95% CI =  - 23,378- - 8218) household income at age 33-37 years, a 1.3 times (95%CI = 1.15-1.57) higher incidence of annual welfare receipt and a 24% (95% CI = 5-40) lower incidence of marriage/cohabitation from age 18-35 years. We show that adolescent-onset poly-substance use by age 13 is associated with poor social and economic outcomes. Delaying the onset of substance use and reducing exposure to additional substance classes has potential for high societal cost savings.

Hospitalisation following therapeutic community drug and alcohol treatment for young people with and without a history of criminal conviction

INTRODUCTION

This study examines the association between treatment in a therapeutic community for adolescents with drug and alcohol problems on hospitalisation outcomes up to 15 years later for all clients, and separately for those with and without a history of criminal conviction.

METHOD

A quasi-experimental design was used to examine the linked administrative health and criminal justice records for all adolescents admitted to the Program for Adolescent Life Management (PALM) from January 2001 to December 2016 (n = 3059) in Sydney, Australia. ICD-10AM codes were used to designate hospitalisation outcomes as either physical injury, mental health problems, substance use disorders, or organic illness. The treatment and comparison groups were matched on factors associated with program retention, resulting in a final sample of 1266 clients. We examined the rate of hospitalisation up to 15 years posttreatment for all clients and stratified by prior conviction status using Cox regression analyses.

RESULTS

The treatment group had significantly lower rates of hospitalisation for a physical injury (HR = 0.77 [95% CI = 0.61-0.98]), mental health problem (HR = 0.62 [95% CI = 0.47-0.81]), substance use disorder (HR = 0.59 [95% CI = 0.47-0.75]), and organic illness (HR = 0.71 [95% CI = 0.55-0.92]). There was a significant interaction between treatment and prior criminal conviction status on rate of hospitalisation for physical injury, suggesting that the effect of treatment on physical injury was significantly greater for clients with a prior criminal conviction.

CONCLUSIONS

Adolescents who engage in a therapeutic community treatment program may have a long-lasting reduction in the risk of subsequent hospitalisation. This also appears to apply to those with a history of criminal conviction.

Does adolescent drug use belong on the antisocial spectrum? Mediating the drug-crime connection with cognitive impulsivity

The purpose of this study was to determine whether adolescent drug use can be considered part of the antisocial spectrum. This was done by testing two pathways from adolescent drug use to early adult offending, one of which was mediated by cognitive insensitivity and the other of which was mediated by cognitive impulsivity. It was hypothesized that the impulsivity-mediated pathway would achieve significance, the insensitivity-mediated pathway would not achieve significance, and the impulsivity-mediated indirect effect would significantly outperform the insensitivity-mediated indirect effect. Participants for this study were the 4576 youth from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health). All participants in the current investigation were between the ages of 11 and 18 at the start of the study (Time 1 or Wave II of Add Health). The research hypothesis received partial support in that while the impulsivity-mediated pathway achieved significance and the insensitivity-mediated pathway did not, the difference between the two pathways was non-significant. These results suggest that early drug use may play a role in the antisocial spectrum as an antecedent to delinquency/crime by way of cognitive impulsivity.

Adolescent criminality: multiple adverse health outcomes and mortality pattern in Swedish men

BACKGROUND

To investigate the impact of adolescent violent and non-violent criminality and subsequent risk of morbidity and mortality in adulthood in a large Swedish cohort of young men conscripted for military service in 1969/70.

METHODS

The cohort consisted of 49,398 18-year-old Swedish conscripts followed up for morbidity and mortality up to the age of 55 years in Swedish national registers. Information about convictions for crime before conscription was obtained from national crime registers. Data from a survey at conscription were scrutinized to get information on potential confounders.

RESULTS

Hospitalization due to alcohol and drug related diagnoses and attempted suicide were significantly more evident in the violent group compared to non-violent criminals and non-criminals. More than one fifth (21.13%) of the young violent offenders, 12.90% of the non-violent offenders and 4.96% of the non-criminals had died during the follow-up period. In Cox proportional multivariate analyses, young violent offenders had twice the hazard (HR = 4.29) of all-cause mortality than the non-violent offenders (HR = 2.16) during the follow-up period. Alcohol and drug related mortality, suicide and fatal accidents were most evident in both violent and non-violent offenders.

CONCLUSIONS

Men with adolescent criminality received more inpatient care due to alcohol and drug related diagnoses and attempted suicide as adults. Mortality due to unnatural causes, alcohol, and drug related diagnoses, suicide and accidents was most evident in violent offenders, while these causes of death were much lower in non-criminals. Men with adolescent criminality are a high-risk group for multiple adverse health outcomes and for early death. Efforts for detection of substance use and psychiatric disorders in this group is important for the prevention work in both local- and community levels as well as national prevention programs.