Abused Children Often Become Deliquent Teens

Moms.com

Kids Who Experience Abuse More Likely To Engage In Criminal Behavior As A Teen

By Kelli Catana

Published Nov 12, 2019

Children who are mistreated or abused are more likely to become delinquent teens and adolescents according to a new study.

Credit: iStock

Most parents do their best to give their children a solid upbringing in hopes they can give them every opportunity to achieve their goals as they become adults. How a child is raised no doubt sets them up for successes or failures as they grow older, and traumatic experiences that may happen when they are children can also have a huge effect on their lives. A new study is proving that children who experience abuse during their childhood are more likely to engage in criminal behavior as a teen.

The study, published in the open-access journal BMC Public Health found that children who were victims of neglect or physical or sexual abuse were more likely to engage in illegal or otherwise delinquent behavior during their adolescent, teen and young adult years.

"Maltreatment and experiences of violence have been shown to impact children's wellbeing long into the future, and there is a risk of a link between experiences of maltreatment and engagement in delinquent behaviors in childhood and adolescence," said one of the study's authors, Hannah Lantos. "Our research suggests that many young people involved in the juvenile justice system are struggling with the effects of trauma and earlier maltreatment and that we should provide support for youth who have experienced maltreatment to engage in more pro-social behaviors."

According to the study, the "delinquent behavior" that's described consists of actions that, if committed by an adult, would be considered criminal offenses. The study looked at data on 10,613 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health to support their conclusion. The subjects were in grades 7-12 during the 1994-95 school year with the study following them for the 25 years since writes to Science Direct.

The study found that 77% of those involved in the study reportedly experienced some form of maltreatment during childhood. Almost 33% of those involved in the study admitted to committing nonviolent offenses as a teen or young adult, with 30% admitting to committing violent offenses.

While the study found that boys were significantly more likely to commit nonviolent offenses than girls, there was really no significant difference based on race or sexual orientation. "Our findings reinforce the need to reexamine areas where inequalities in the trajectory from maltreatment to juvenile delinquency and offending persist," Lantos stated. "Adding to our knowledge of the relationship between maltreatment and offending behaviors may help identify opportunities to support young people and may inform improvements in juvenile and adult justice systems."