Results

The average participant in the study was 17 years old and in the 9th grade (i.e., 2 years behind the expected grade), and more than half (53.7 percent) of the youth were African American (tables 1 and 2). Eighty-eight percent of the youth were assessed within 4 weeks of their admission to the facility, with 40 percent being assessed within 2 weeks of admission. Most of the youth had previous contact with the juvenile justice system; 28 percent had committed one or more substance-related offenses.

Table 1: Demographic and Offense Characteristics of the Study Sample
Characteristic
Mean
SD
Age (years)
17.04
1.39
Current school grade
9.63
1.39
Number of prior convictions
4.7
4.4
Number of days since admission
18.7
12.6

Table 2: Race/Ethnicity of the Study Sample
Race/Ethnicity
Number
Percent
African American
159
53.7
White
81
27.4
Hispanic
49
16.6
Other
7
2.4
Note: Percents do not sum to 100 because of rounding.

The assessment inquired about 20 psychiatric disorders and took an average of 60 minutes to complete. As would be expected, the youth in whom more disorders were diagnosed needed more time to complete the assessment. Unsolicited, five youth commented that they felt safer disclosing information to the computer than to a person.

Table 3 presents the number of youth who met the criteria for each disorder in the preceding month. Because suicidality is of great concern for management in residential programs, information on reported suicidal ideation and attempts is presented in table 4.

Table 3: Prevalence of Psychiatric Disorders Within the Past Month
Disorder
Number of Youth
(N=296)
Percent*
None
97
32.8
Any anxiety disorder•
56
18.9
Anxiety disorder only
17
5.7
Agoraphobia
13
4.4
Generalized anxiety
6
2.0
Obsessive-compulsive
13
4.5
Panic
13
4.5
Posttraumatic stress
13
4.5
Social phobia
7
2.4
Specific phobia
25
8.5
Any mood disorder
27
9.1
Mood disorder only
1
0.3
Manic episode
6
2.1
Hypomanic episode
2
0.7
Major depressive
21
7.2
Dysthymic‡
2
0.7
Any disruptive disorder
94
31.8
Disruptive disorder only
21
7.1
ADHD
6
2.3
Conduct§
89
31.7
Oppositional defiant
8
2.8
Any substance use disorder
146
49.3
Substance use disorder only
68
23.0
Alcohol dependence
38
12.9
Alcohol abuse
47
17.0
Marijuana dependence
72
25.7
Marijuana abuse
42
15.0
Other substance dependence
36
12.8
Other substance abuse
11
3.9
Note: Diagnoses are based on DSM–IV criteria only.
* The prevalence for some diagnoses is based on a slightly reduced number because some youth did not complete the entire DISC interview (e.g., because they were transferred).
• Separation anxiety disorder either not assessed or not included.
‡ Current DISC and DSM–IV criteria necessitate that youth with major depressive disorder do not also receive a diagnosis of dysthymia.
§ Past 6 months.

Table 4: Prevalence of Suicide Ideation or Attempt
Suicide Ideation or Attempt
Number of Youth
(N=296)
Percent*
Ideation (past month)
27
9.1
Attempt
    Past month
8
2.7
    Lifetime
35
11.8
Note: Diagnoses are based on DSM–IV criteria only.
* The prevalence for some diagnoses is based on a slightly reduced number because some youth did not complete the entire DISC interview (e.g., because they were transferred).

Table 3 shows high current rates for many disorders in the sample as a whole. Beyond the expectably high numbers of youth meeting criteria for substance use or conduct disorders, the rates of current mood and anxiety disorders were also high (9.1 percent and 18.9 percent, respectively). In addition, 9.1 percent of the youth reported suicidal ideation in the past month and 2.7 percent reported having attempted to commit suicide during the past month.

To examine the degree to which a Voice DISC–IV diagnosis of a substance use disorder corresponded to a record of substance use offenses, three groups within the sample were examined: youth who met criteria for a substance use disorder only (n=68), those who met criteria for a disorder other than substance use (n=53), and those with no evidence of a disorder (n=97).5 Sixty-five of these 218 youth were incarcerated for a substance use offense: 28 who had only a substance use disorder, 10 who had a disorder other than substance use, and 27 who had no diagnosed disorder. Of these 65 youth, those with a substance use disorder were significantly more likely to have been incarcerated for a substance-related offense than the youth in either of the other two groups (see the figure).

Percent of Youth Incarcerated for a Substance Use Offense Relative to
Disorder Status as Diagnosed by the Voice DISC–IV
Bar graph showing percentage of youth incarcerated for a substance use offense relative to disorder status as diagnosed by the Voice DISC-IV.

Note: SUD, substance use disorder.

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Assessing the Mental Health Status of Youth in Juvenile Justice Settings OJJDP Bulletin • August 2004