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Violence Exposure, Posttraumatic Stress, and Personality in Juvenile Delinquents

NCJ Number
193921
Journal
Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry Volume: 41 Issue: 3 Dated: March 2002 Pages: 322-329
Author(s)
Vladislav V. Ruchkin M.D.; Mary Schwab-Stone M.D.; Roman Koposov M.D.; Robert Vermeiren M.D.; Hans Steiner M.D.
Date Published
March 2002
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This study assessed posttraumatic stress and its relationship to comorbid psychopathology, violence exposure, and personality traits in Russian male juvenile delinquents.
Abstract
Posttraumatic stress and comorbid psychopathology were assessed in 370 delinquent youths by means of a semistructured psychiatric interview (Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version). The interviews were conducted during the winter-spring of 1999. Self-reports were used to assess violence exposure, personality, and psychopathology. Most delinquents reported some degree of posttraumatic stress; 156 subjects (42 percent) met partial criteria, and 87 (25 percent) met full DSM-IV criteria for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Violence-related experiences (witnessing and victimization) were the most common types of trauma. Higher levels of posttraumatic stress were accompanied by higher rates of comorbid psychopathology, with the most striking differences occurring between the groups with full versus partial PTSD criteria. Violence exposure was related to temperamental behavior activation (novelty seeking); whereas, PTSD symptom scores were predominantly related to behavior inhibition and poor coping (high harm avoidance and low self-directedness). Thus, Russian male juvenile delinquents are a severely traumatized population, mainly due to high levels of exposure to violence; this finding is similar to findings in American delinquent samples. In the Russian sample, both exposure to violence and levels of PTSD were related to personality traits, which influenced degree of exposure to and individual perception of stress. This should be considered in individualized approaches to rehabilitation. 4 tables and 40 references