Impact of Alcohol and Cannabis Use on Juvenile Delinquency: Results from an International Multi-City Study (ISRD3)

No abstract

Background: Health-related behaviors during adolescence could influence adolescents’ health outcomes, leading to either advantageous or deteriorative conditions. Clustering of adolescents’ health-related behaviors by gender identifies the target groups for intervention and informs the strategies to be implemented for behavioral changes. Methods: Data from 1807 adolescents in grades 7 and 10 in a city in South Korea were used. Health-related behaviors including eating habits, physical activity, hand washing, brushing teeth, drinking alcohol, smoking, and Internet use were examined. Latent class analysis (LCA) was used to identify subgroups of adolescents with regard to their health-related behaviors. Results: A four-class model was the most adequate grouping classification across genders: adolescents with (1) healthy behaviors, (2) neither health-promoting nor health-risk behaviors, (3) good hygiene behaviors, and (4) unhealthy behaviors. The majority of both male and female adolescents were classified into the healthy group. Male adolescents belonging to the healthy group were more likely to engage in vigorous physical activities, while vigorous physical activity was not important for female adolescents. The smallest group was the unhealthy group, regardless of gender; however, the proportion of boys in the unhealthy group was almost twice that of girls. Only female adolescents engaged in excessive Internet use, especially the group with neither health-promoting nor health-risk behaviors. Conclusion: To improve adolescents’ health-related behaviors, it would be more effective to develop tailored interventions considering the behavioral profiles of the target groups.

This study investigated whether drug dealing juvenile offenders in Belgium differ from non-drug dealers in levels of violent and non-violent offending behaviors, aggression, substance use, and mental health needs. The current study examined data from 226 16- to 17-year-old male juvenile offenders. Information relating to drug dealing, substance use, and mental health needs were collected through self-report questionnaires. A structured diagnostic interview was used to collect information about past violent and non-violent behaviors. Chi-square tests and multivariate analysis of variance compared non-dealers and dealers and explored if hard-drug dealers and soft-drug dealers differed from each other. Relative to non-drug dealers, drug dealers engaged in more violent offending behaviors, exhibited higher levels of aggression, substance use and oppositional defiant problems, and displayed lower levels of anxiety. Soft- and hard-drug dealers did not differ from each other. To conclude, detained drug dealers are characterized by severe antisocial behavior.