Gender Differences in Mental Health Problems and Violence Among Chicago Youth

Abstract

The role of gender is critical when examining how mental health problems affect delinquency over the life course. This study explores gender and developmental pathways to violence for youth participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). Girls having oppositional defiant problems (ODP) were significantly more likely to self-report violence from late childhood through early adolescence; however, only depressive problems mattered for girls during late adolescence. For boys, antisocial personality problems during late adolescence affected violence. Moderating effects of gender were limited to early and late adolescence. Implications regarding gendered solutions when developing strategies targeting youth violence are discussed.

The Intersectionality of Sex, Race, and Psychopathology in Predicting Violent Crimes

“…our finding of a strong relationship between comorbid psychopathology and violent offending for Black female inmates as compared with white males and females is notable in light of the overall literature that points to sex differences in the development of antisocial behavior and violence (wareham & Boots, 2011). Unlike prior research, the present study did not rely on a community sample where base rates of psychopathology and offending are low.…”

Legal Cynicism and Parental Appraisals of Adolescent Violence

“…Given the common reliance on parental or other external assessments (e.g. teacher assessments) in studies of adolescent crime and delinquency ( Wareham and Boots 2011 ), it is crucial to identify and control for the influence of contextual factors on appraisals of adolescent behaviour. Identifying and controlling for such contextual biases—namely, legal cynicism—may help explain why the associations between trait-based predispositions, such as impulsivity and externalizing behaviour problems, and adolescent crime and delinquency are inconsistent across neighbourhoods ( Lynam et al 2000 ; Zimmerman 2010 ).…”

“…Using data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN), Zimmerman (2010) found that the association between parent reports of impulsivity and adolescent offending was weakest in neighbourhoods with high levels of legal cynicism. One possible explanation for this variation across neighbourhoods is that assessments of trait-based predispositions, such as impulsivity and externalizing behaviour problems, often were based on parents’ interpretations of their children’s behaviour ( Wareham and Boots 2011 ). Importantly, it is possible that parental assessments of trait-based predispositions—although likely influenced by children’s actual behaviour—are systematically biased by neighbourhood-based cultural frames.…”

Females in the Juvenile Justice System

“…For example, although maltreatment and internalizing mental health problems such as depression are risk factors for both genders, they have a more pervasive impact on females (Cauffman, 2008; Zahn et al, 2010). Different mental health diagnoses are related to different rates of offending among boys and girls, with depression being a greater indicator for girls (Wareham & Boots, 2011). In addition, the mechanisms through which risk translates to offending can differ.…”