Citation
Paz, Jenna-Mae (2022). Analyzing the Effects of Childhood Trauma Exposure and Juvenile Deliquency.Abstract
Juveniles who find themselves committing delinquent acts often reside in an environmentwhere they are frequently exposed to trauma. This typically occurs within their own households,
as being abused or neglected during childhood can leave detrimental effects that will follow them
throughout their course of life. However, there are conflicting findings on the effects of
childhood trauma and juvenile delinquency, as youth offenders are beginning to get more
involved in activities that could led them to serious crimes. Additionally, little is known about
the relationship between such exposure to these stressful events and future offending. Using data
from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), this study aims
to predict the extents to which experiencing childhood trauma contributes to delinquency and
future offending. Findings from logistic regression and zero-inflated binomial regression
analyses suggest that though emotional neglect is a significant type of trauma to predict juvenile
offending and future offending, more research is necessary. Significance and limitations, as well
as policy implications and directions for future research, are discussed.