The Global Impact of Multisystemic Vulnerabilities on Criminal Variety: A Cross-Continental Study in Young Adults.

Previous research has shown a robust association between different childhood and adolescent vulnerabilities and youth offending. However, these investigations have primarily focused on youths from high-income Western countries. Consequently, the generalizability of these findings to better inform global justice policies remains uncertain. This study aimed to address this gap by examining the relationship between individual, familial, and contextual vulnerabilities and criminal versatility during young adulthood, accounting for sociodemographic factors and cross-national differences. Data were derived from a diverse sample of 4,182 young adults (67% female; mean age = 18.96; SD = 0.81) residing in 10 countries across 5 continents who participated in the International Study of Pro/Antisocial Behavior in Young Adults. The Psychosocial and Family Vulnerability Questionnaire and the Adverse Childhood Experiences questionnaire were used to assess social and family adversity, and past-year criminal diversity was measured with the Criminal Variety Index. Results indicate that child maltreatment, substance abuse, and delinquent peers are global risk factors for criminal variety. Moreover, they are independent across males and females and among youths living in countries that are ranked differently on the Human Development Index (HDI). In addition, some childhood vulnerabilities showed different predictive ability across sexes (e.g., school failure), and across countries ranked differently on the HDI (e.g., family dysfunction). These findings suggest that certain childhood factors contribute to criminal behavior through transcultural mechanisms. Moreover, they highlight the importance of developing evidence-based policies that focus on transcultural risk factors to globally prevent criminal behavior.

The global impact of adverse childhood experiences on criminal behavior: A cross-continental study.

BACKGROUND: Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) have been associated with a greater risk of later criminal offending. However, existing research in this area has been primarily conducted in Western developed countries and cross-cultural studies are rare. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between ACEs and criminal behaviors in young adults living in 10 countries located across five continents, after accounting for sex, age, and cross-national differences. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: In total, 3797 young adults aged between 18 and 20 years (M = 18.97; DP = 0.81) were assessed locally in community settings within the 10 countries. METHOD: The ACE Questionnaire was used to assess maltreatment and household dysfunction during childhood and a subset of questions derived from the Deviant Behavior Variety Scale (DBVS) was used to determine past-year criminal variety pertaining to 10 acts considered crime across participating countries. RESULTS: Physical and sexual abuse, physical neglect, and household substance abuse were related to criminal variety, globally, and independently across sexes and countries ranked differently in the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI). In addition, three out of five experiences of household dysfunction were related to criminal variety, but subsequent analyses indicate that some forms of household dysfunction only hold statistical significance among males or females, or in countries ranking lower in the HDI. CONCLUSIONS: This research strengthens the finding that there are cross-cultural mechanisms perpetuating the cycle of violence. It also indicates that forms of household dysfunction have an impact on criminal behavior that is shaped by gender and the country's levels of social well-being.

The Prediction of Youth Recidivism in a Spanish Roma Population by the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI).

Despite the increasing interest in the accuracy of youth risk assessment tools, the amount of research with ethnic minorities remains relatively modest. For this reason, the main goal of this study was to assess the predictive validity and disparate impact of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) in a Spanish ethnic minority. The participants consisted of 88 Roma youth offenders and 135 non-Roma youth offenders, aged between 14 and 17 years old. Their risk of recidivism was assessed by means of the YLS/CMI Inventory and their recidivism rate was obtained from the Juvenile Justice Department. Results showed that the Inventory presented slightly lower predictive validity for the Roma group. Moreover, Roma juveniles presented higher risk scores and lower strength scores than non-Roma juveniles. These results supported the idea that professionals must therefore be aware of these cultural differences in predictive validity and the existent potentiality for disparate impact.

Social cognition makes an independent contribution to peer relations in children with Specific Language Impairment.

BACKGROUND: Language is important for developing and maintaining social relationships, and also for understanding others minds. Separate studies have shown that children with Specific Language Impairment (SLI) present difficulties in both abilities, although the role of social cognition (SC) on peers' perception remains unexplored. AIMS: The present study aims to assess specific sociometric features of children with SLI through peer nominations of liking and disliking, and also to explore their relationship to the children's SC. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Thirty-five children with SLI attending ordinary schools (3;10 to 8;00 years old) and thirty-five age-matched children (AM) were assessed with language, SC and sociometric measures. RESULTS: SLI group received more disliked nominations and had lower scores on SC tasks compared to the AM group. After controlling for age and language, SC made an independent contribution to disliked nominations within the SLI group. CONCLUSIONS: Difficulties with peers of children with SLI are related to their language level but also with their SC abilities. Consequently, only resolving language impairments will not necessarily improve early peer acceptance in children with SLI. IMPLICATION: This finding stresses the importance of early intervention programmes aimed at reducing deleterious effects in later development and socialization with peers.

Which are the best predictors of theory of mind delay in children with specific language impairment?

BACKGROUND: The relationship between language and theory of mind (ToM) development in participants with specific language impairment (SLI) it is far from clear due to there were differences in study design and methodologies of previous studies. AIMS: This research consisted of an in-depth investigation of ToM delay in children with SLI during the typical period of acquisition, and it studied whether linguistic or information-processing variables were the best predictors of this process. It also took into account whether there were differences in ToM competence due to the degree of pragmatic impairment within the SLI group. METHODS & PROCEDURES: Thirty-one children with SLI (3;5-7;5 years old) and two control groups (age matched and language matched) were assessed with False Belief (FB) tasks, a wide battery of language measures and additional information-processing measures. OUTCOMES & RESULTS: The members of the SLI group were less competent than their age-matched peers at solving FB tasks, but they performed similarly to the language-matched group. Regression analysis showed that overall linguistic skills of children with SLI were the best predictor of ToM performance, and especially grammar abilities. No differences between SLI subgroups were found according to their pragmatic level. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS: A delay in ToM development in children with SLI around the critical period of acquisition is confirmed more comprehensively, and it is shown to be more strongly related to their general linguistic level than to their age and other information-processing faculties. This finding stresses the importance of early educational and clinical programmes aimed at reducing deleterious effects in later development.

[Somatic complaints, mood states, and emotional awareness in adolescents]. / Quejas somáticas, estados de ánimo y conciencia emocional en adolescentes.

Health complaints are a common problem in adolescents, but a medical cause can only be found in few cases. Therefore, increasing attention is paid to psychological factors that might be related. Two areas of emotional functioning are frequently referred to in this respect: negative mood and emotional awareness. In this study, we examined whether emotional awareness contributes uniquely to the prediction of somatic complaints over and above negative mood. Self-report questionnaires of somatic complaints, mood states, and emotional awareness were completed in class by 441 adolescents, between 13 and 15 years old. Results showed that emotional awareness only presents a limited unique contribution to the prediction of somatic complaints. This contribution is moderated by mood states, except for two aspects of emotional awareness: bodily awareness of emotions and attending to others' emotions. This strengthens the hypothesis that emotional awareness precedes affective states, which, in turn, have an effect on youngsters' health perceptions.

Mothers' use of cognitive state verbs in picture-book reading and the development of children's understanding of mind: a longitudinal study.

Mothers read stories to their children (N=41) aged between 3.3 years and 5.11 years old, and children then completed two false-belief tasks. One year later, mothers read a story to 37 of those children who were also given four tasks to assess their advanced understanding of mental states. Mothers' early use of cognitive verbs in picture-book reading correlated with their children's later understanding of mental states. Some pragmatic aspects of maternal input correlated with children's later outcomes. Two different factors in mothers' cognitive discourse were identified, suggesting a zone of proximal development in children's understanding of mental states.

Parent-child picture-book reading, mothers' mental state language and children's theory of mind.

This study focuses on parent-child book reading and its connection to the development of a theory of mind. First, parents were asked to report about frequency of parent-child storybook reading at home. Second, mothers were asked to read four picture-books to thirty-four children between 4;0 and 5;0. Both frequency of parent-child storybook reading at home, and mother's use of mental state terms in picture-books reading tasks were significantly associated with success on false belief tasks, after partialling out a number of potential mediators such as age of children, verbal IQ, paternal education, and words used by mothers in joint picture-book reading. Among the different mental state references (cognitive terms, desires, emotions and perceptions), it was found that the frequency and variety of cognitive terms, but also the frequency of emotional terms correlated positively with children's false belief performance. Relationships between mental state language and theory of mind are discussed.