Cognition and Disabilities in incarcerated male youth

Summary:  View help for Summary This study investigates violence, disabilities, psychopathology, and cognition in incarcerated adolescent males. The study sample is comprised of adolescents who were incarcerated at a juvenile corrections facility for various violent offenses, ranging from persistent delinquency to sexual assault (n = 110). The primary hypothesis of the study posits that disabilities and cognitive processing are integral to the relation between violence exposure of children and internalizing and externalizing behavior problems. tests this mediation model.
Each participant participated in two sessions that were conducted at a juvenile corrections facility using survey measures, cognitive tasks, and educational records review. The survey included self-reports of maltreatment, history of violence, self-regulation, and mental health. The cognitive battery included a number of aspects of cognition including frontal lobe function, interference processing, response inhibition, task switching, specific learning disabilities, and cognitive disabilities. Educational records were obtained and coded. 
The sample was between the ages of 13 and 20 and self-defined as 36% mixed race, 31% Caucasian, and 28% African American. Approximately 70% were diagnosed with a disability. 

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms adolescents; incarcerated; cognitive functioning; disabilities

Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) administrative records data; experimental data; medical records; survey data

Response Rate:  View help for Response Rate The population of the facility at the start of the study was 207 boys from the ages of 13- 21. The sample is 110. Consent was obtained as follows.
Most of the boys at the facility were wards of the state. Ninety-one percent were termed State Ward Delinquent. Six percent were some form of temporary court ward. The remainder of the residents had some form of dual wardship. Consent was obtained for the study from parents or the court as applicable before asking minors for participation. Legal adults were asked to sign participant consent. First, a letter was sent to parents or guardians requesting permission for minor participation. In the case of residents who were state wards, permission was requested from the juvenile court. After a period of three weeks, a second letter was sent to the parent, guardian, or juvenile court. If there was no response to the second letter and the juveniles were covered under the Delinquency Act 150, we asked that the State Department of Human Services give permission for the youth the participate in the study. After parent/guardian, court, or Human Services permission was granted, each youth was contacted individually by researchers. The researchers explained that the study was voluntary and that no consequence positive or negative would result from participation or refusal to participate. Once either adult consent or parent/court or agency permission was granted all youth were asked to sign a youth assent to show that they were giving permission to have the study start that day. Once verbal assent was obtained each youth was given an assent form at the third-grade reading level that they then signed and dated. If the youth had trouble understanding the consent form, it was read to them. In the event that a youth declined participation, he was given another task to complete during the time of testing so that the staff at the facility were unaware of the participation status of each student. In order to protect the boys' confidentiality at the facility from staff knowing the status of their participation, youth were presented a verbal script by researchers outlining the purposed research study. Each student was brought into the speech room and presented with the content of the script. If the minor agreed, he was presented with the assent form asking him to participate. The study then began. If the minor declined participation then he was given a task to complete during the time the survey would have taken so that the staff at the facility would not know whether or not he chose to participate.

Sampling:  View help for Sampling The project was a convenience sample of youth who were incarcerated at a youth corrections facility during the time of data collection. 

Collection Mode(s):  View help for Collection Mode(s) cognitive assessment test; on-site questionnaire; other

Scales:  View help for Scales From Records Eduction history

Teacher Measures Teacher Report Form, Learning Disabilities Diagnostic Screen, Dyslexia Screening Instrument

Survey Measures Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function--Self-Report, Youth Self Report, Conflict Tactics Scale, Self-reported Delinquency, Marlowe-Crown Social Desirability Scale, Trauma Symptom Checklist for Children,  Beck Depression Inventory

Cognitive Battery Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test, Wide Range Achievement Test 3, Go - No go, Wisconsin Card Sort - 64