ACEs and Angst: Adverse Childhood Experiences, General Strain Theory, and Adolescent Male Suicidal and Violent Behaviors

Judy A. Van Wyk

SAGE Open, 2023, vol. 13, issue 2, 21582440231176710

Abstract: This study tests General Strain Theory (GST) as an explanation for associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and risk of violent and suicidal behaviors. Data comprise a census of archival information about the lives of 2,195 delinquent boys who resided at a U.S. treatment facility between 1975 and 2019. Logistic regression tests the effects of 12 combined ACEs, anger, low self-control, depression, race/ethnicity, and poverty on violent and suicidal behaviors. Interactive associations predicted by GST are examined by Z mediation and χ 2 analyses. Nearly 93% of residents experienced at least one ACE, and 87% had ≥4. ACEs increase risk of violent and suicidal behaviors net of controls. They interact with low self-control and anger to increase risk of violence, and anger and depression mediate risk of suicidal behaviors. Rehabilitative programming for troubled boys should begin with thorough assessment of these experiences, and both outcomes require equal consideration in the ACEs research.

Keywords: child maltreatment; criminology; social sciences; criminal behavior; juvenile delinquency; social psychology; experimental psychology; psychology; criminology and criminal justice; sociology; family studies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/21582440231176710 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:sagope:v:13:y:2023:i:2:p:21582440231176710

DOI: 10.1177/21582440231176710

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in SAGE Open
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().