Juveniles need better screening, Bradley study finds

EAST PROVIDENCE – Newly published research from the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center shows that uvenile offenders who are depressed are more likely to use drugs and alcohol and engage in unsafe sexual activity that puts them at greater risk for HIV.

The study, published in the January issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, concludes that depression screenings should be part of the juvenile intake process in order to determine what mental health, substance use and HIV risk-behavior interventions may be appropriate.

“We know that symptoms of depression may be a factor that is linked to both drug and alcohol use and sexual risk-taking behaviors,” said lead author Marina Tolou-Shams of the of the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center, a staff psychologist at Hasbro Children’s Hospital and assistant research professor of psychiatry at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. “However, juvenile offenders aren’t routinely screened for emotional difficulties, such as depression or anxiety – rather, everyone tends to focus more on their conduct or behavioral problems.”

The study is one of the first to examine the link between substance use, mental health and sexual risk among high-risk youth who have an arrest history but who may not have been incarcerated or detained.

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Researchers assessed the depressive symptoms, sexual behavior, substance use, risk attitudes and mental health history of 835 sexually active adolescents and young adults, ages 15 to 21, from Providence and Atlanta who participated in a larger, multi-site HIV-prevention program called Project SHIELD. A quarter of the study participants had an arrest history.

The study found that juvenile offenders with significant symptoms of depression – such as feelings of loneliness or worthlessness – reported much greater drug and alcohol use. They were also more likely to use these substances during sex, less likely to use condoms, and had more psychiatric hospitalizations and suicide attempts than arrestees without depressive symptoms.

“Models of juvenile correction that address mental health and physical health are crucial, because arrestees’ contact with the legal system may represent one of few opportunities to address health issues,” Tolou-Shams and her co-authors – Dr. Larry K. Brown, Christopher Houck and Celia Lescano, all of the Bradley Hasbro Children’s Research Center and Alpert Medical School – wrote in their report.

Additional information about the research study is available at www.lifespan.org.

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