Mental health, aggression, suicidal ideation and substance use among institutionalised children
Original Article
Mental health, aggression, suicidal ideation and substance use among institutionalised children
Abhishek Banga,1 G.S. Kaloiya,2 Vikas Sharma3
1Ph.D. Scholar, Faculty of Behavioural Sciences, SGT University, Gurugram
2Professor of Clinical Psychology, NDDTC, AIIMS, New Delhi
3Associate Professor and Head, Department of Clinical Psychology, SGT University Address for Correspondence: Email: gkaloiya@aiims.edu
ABSTRACT
Objective: The framework of Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children), 2015, provides a set of guidelines to prevent further chances of recidivism by opting rehabilitative approach (care and protection of juveniles) rather than relying on punitive approaches being followed by judicial systems among children in conflict with law. In purview of this, institutionalisation has is recommended as the last step in the direction of rehabilitation and reintegration of these individuals. Method: The present study explored the patterns and relationships between mental health issues, aggression, suicidal ideation, and substance use among Children in Conflict with the Law (CCL) from a Delhi-based detention centre. Results: Findings of the current study suggest that CCLs older in age are more likely to be accused of committing heinous offences. It was also found that towards the presence of severe mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, being prevalent among CCLs accused of heinous offences in comparison to CCLs accused of serious offences. Also, higher levels of proactive and reactive aggression were observed indicating towards the presence of mental health problems. Alcohol and tobacco were widely prevalent among this sample along with cannabis, and street opioids (smack), being notably high among CCLs accused of heinous offences, suggesting a need effective psychological interventions. Conclusion: Based on the results, it is highly recommended for developing effective evidence based targeted mental health and substance use interventions to meet the needs of institutionalized CCLs and further reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
Keywords: Children in conflict with law, juvenile, offence, detention, mental health, aggression, substance use, suicidal ideation.
INTRODUCTION
As per Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children), 2015, any individual who is found to be alleged or accused of having committed an act that is considered as an offence according to Indian Penal Code (IPC) or any other law in force is known as Child in Conflict with law or simply abbreviated as CCL(s) (JJ Act, 2015). This framework provides a set of guidelines to prevent further chances of recidivism by opting rehabilitative approach (care and protection of juveniles) rather than relying on punitive approaches being followed by Judicial systems.
Several reasons for delinquent behaviour have been suggested like poor economic condi- tions, revenge, accidental incidents, and careless- ness, dissatisfaction with reality, temptation and curiosity. However, “accidental incidents” have been reported as the most frequent reason for juvenile delinquency highlighting impulsivity and extemporaneous patterns of CCLs (Chung et al., 2020). This study suggests the need of developing effective psychosocial interventions to target delinquent behaviour and chances of recidivism in children in conflict with law.
A significant proportion of CCLs are at greater risk of developing mental health problems. About 70% of these individuals have atleast one diagnosable mental health problem and profound scores for problems like depression, anxiety and substance use have been reported among rest of the population (Gisin et al., 2012). Addressing these mental health issues is of prime importance for effective rehabilitation and reinte- gration of CCLs into society.
Another common problem seen in such individuals is the presence of non-suicidal self- injury (NSSI) that has been found to be signifi- cantly associated with mental health & beha- vioural problems including depression, conduct problems and substance use disorders (SUDs) further posing a high risk of suicide (Lüdtke et al., 2018). This highlights the presence of under- lying psychopathologies in institutionalised CCLs which further necessitates comprehensive psychological assessment and psychosocial interventions.
However, a lower proportion of individuals having other internalising problems apart from post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms (32% of sample) and suicidal ideation (20%) have been reported in a study. Such internalising problems stemming from the institutionalisation, maltreat- ment and conduct problems in childhood and family risk factors including parental conflict, absence of a father figure, lack of parental control and family substance addiction (Lemos & Faísca, 2015).
In a study, a sample of 175 institutionalised male juveniles from Brazil was recruited for a survey study using Beck Depression & Anxiety Inventory (BDI & BAI) along with short-self rating questionnaire containing questions about substance use. In findings, it was reported that about 28% of the participants showed moderate to severe score on depression and about 34.28% of the participants showed moderate to severe scores on anxiety. However, the emo- tional distress was found to be independent of substance use among this population (da Silva et al., 2021).
In another study, institutionalised male adolescents belong to the age range of 14-17 years were recruited within 48 hours of their arrival within the detention centre. Data was collected studying anger and depression at baseline of 1 month and 2 months. It was found that participants scoring higher for anger were more likely to offend within institution. Interac- tions between depression and anger were reported. Emotional distress was found to be having a significant relationship with violent and non-violent offending (Kelly et al., 2019).
Heirigs et al. (2019) studied the association between psychopathy and suicidal thoughts among incarcerated juveniles. Psychopathy was found to be a significant risk factor for the presence of suicidal thoughts being mediated by the presence of lifetime depressive symptoms.
In a study, a total of 3156 adolescents were studied at a Juvenile detention centre in Ohio. Among this population, adverse life experiences (sexual abuse, homelessness, running away and substance abuse in family) were found to be contributing to mental health problems like suicidal ideation. About 19% of participants reported suicidal ideation and about 11.9% attempted suicide during their life time. Also, participants experiencing all four types of adverse experiences found to be more prone to the risk of attempting suicide (Bhatta et al., 2014).
In a study, Chung et al, (2020) studies the prevalence rates and relationships among ADHD, suicidal ideation, depression, anxiety, self-esteem and alcohol problems in 251 Korean participants (149 with juvenile delinquency and 102 from comparison group). The findings of the study revealed higher levels of suicidal ideation comorbid with depression, anxiety and alcohol use problems (Chung et al., 2020).
However, despite of extensive research mental health problem of children in conflict with law, there seems to be a paucity of studies exploring relationships between mental health problems, aggression, suicidal ideation and substance use particularly among insti- tutionalised CCLs like observation home(s)/place of safety/special home(s) setup as per model rules of JJ act 2016 (Model Rules, 2016). Such gaps provided motivation to researchers for conduct- ing this pilot study for studying interrelationships between aforementioned variables for making informed choices in terms of developing effective psychosocial interventions (Anwar et al., 2023; Heirigs et al., 2019).
The aim of the current study was to investi- gate the prevalence and existence of interrelation- ships among mental health problems, aggression, suicidal ideation and substance use in children in conflict with law from a Delhi based detention centre. The objectives for this current study was to study depression, anxiety and stress in children in conflict with law from a Delhi based detention centre; aggression in children with conflict with law; patterns of substance use in children in conflict with law and the patterns of suicidal ideation in children in conflict with law.
METHODS
This pilot study used purposive sampling and cross-sectional design to assess mental health problems, anger, illicit drug use and suicidal ideation among children in conflict with law (CCLs).
Participants
The participants consisted on 20 institutionalised CCLs within the age range of 15 to 26 Years. They were from a Delhi based detention centre. They were in detention for their involve- ment in petty, serious or heinous offences as per the Indian Penal Code or any other related law in force.
Tools
1. Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale
(DASS-Y): It is a Psychometric tool designed to assess depression, anxiety and stress in adolescents and young adults adapted from the original DASS 42 items test. The scoring included rating of all items on 4-point Likert scale. The overall score for each subscale is calculated by summing up the scores on items and then multiplying it by 2 as per the norms developed for DASS-42 item Scale. This test demonstrated higher internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for each subscale higher than 0.90. The scale has good construct validity (Szabo & Lovibond, 2022).
2. Peer Conflict Scale (PCS) (Marsee et al., 2004)): This is 40 item scale based on 4- point Likert Scale to measure four dimen- sions of aggression (Reactive overt, Reactive relational, Proactive overt and Proactive relational aggression). Scores are obtained for each subscale by summing the relative items. PCS has demonstrated a good internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients generally exceeding 0.80 for all subscales. The scale has also shown strong construct validity.
Procedure
Each participant completed the DASS Y, PCS, SIDAS and NIDA version 2 in a single session. Most of the CCLs had a deficiency of basic reading and writing skills. To compensate for this, the researcher provided necessary assistance to ensure the homogeneity in data.
Data analysis
Data analysis was carried out using Jamovi (The Jamovi Project, 2022). Descriptive and inferential statistics including mean, standard deviations, frequency distributions, and correla- tions coefficients were computed to study associations between mental health problems (depression, anxiety and stress), anger, suicidal ideation and substance use.
RESULTS
Table 1 provides sociodemographic details
Table 1 Descriptives (Sociodemographic variables)
of the participants i.e. children in conflict with law categorised by type of offence: Serious and Heinous. Mean, standard deviation (SD), Variance, skewness and kurtosis have been described for each variable.
Age: The mean age of CCLs who were under the enquiry for committing heinous offence is higher (Mean age =18.8 years, SD = 1.776, Variance = 3.1544) compared to the ones under the enquiry for serious offences (Mean age = 17.33 years, SD = 0.577, Variance = 0.333). The higher standard deviation and variance in heinous group indicates higher variability in ages. Both groups showed positive skewness (right-skewed distribution). Heinous group showed a higher kurtosis value, indicating a more peaked distribution in comparison to CCLs under the enquiry for serious offences.
Religion: This variable showed no variation in serious offence group (mean = 1, SD = 0, vari- ance = 0) suggesting homogeneity. In second group, a slight variability has been observed (mean = 1.29, SD = 0.47, Variance = 0.221), with skewness close to +1 (right-skewed distri- bution). The negative kurtosis (-1.166) indicates flatter distribution compared to a normal distribution.
Education: The education level is slightly higher in serious group (mean = 5.33, SD = 0.577, variance = 0.333) in comparison to heinous group (mean = 5, SD = 0.866, variance = 0.75). The heinous group showed higher variability in terms of SD and variance. Both groups showed right-skewed distributions with heinous offence group showing higher kurtosis (more peaked distribution).
Occupation of the Head of the family: No variability in the occupation of the head of the family for serious offence group (mean=2, SD = 0, variance = 0). Heinous offence group shows significant variability (mean=4.29, SD = 2.443, variance = 5.971). Furthermore, for heinous group, right-skewed distribution is observed along with negative kurtosis (flatter distribution). Education of the head of the family: Homogeneity has been observed in serious offence group (mean = 1, SD = 0, variance = 0). The heinous offence group (mean=2.12, SD = 1.269, variance = 1.61) showed more variability with higher positive skewness (1.833) and kurtosis (4.736) indicating right-skewed peaked distribution.
Total Monthly income of the family: Serious offence group (mean = 2.33, SD = 0.577, variance = 0.333) reported a lower total monthly income in comparison to the heinous offence group (mean = 4.18, SD = 3.046, variance = 9.279) with higher variability in terms of SD and variance. Both group showed positive skewness while having higher peak in heinous group.
Socioeconomic class: There exists no variability in socioeconomic class of serious offence group (mean = 4, SD = 0, variance = 0). The heinous offence group (mean=3.47, SD = 0.8, variance = 0.64) had lower mean with slight variability. The negative skewness was observed (indicating left-skewed distribution) and negative kurtosis (flatter distribution).
Table 2
Frequencies of Education
Table 2 presents the distribution of education levels of CCLs based on type of offence (serious or heinous). About 20% (n=4) of CCLs belonging to the group of heinous offence completed high school. A significantly higher percentage of CCLs from heinous offence group reached middle school (11, 55%). Furthermore, a small percent- age of CCLs involved in serious offence reached upto primary education (1, 5%). None of the CCLs involved in serious offence were illiterate, while about 10% (n=2) of those under the enquiry of heinous offence were found to be illiterate.
Table 3
Frequencies of Total monthly income of the family
Table 3 summarises the frequency of total monthly income of the family categorised as per the type of crime. The majority of the CCLs belong to the lower income families. A significant proportion of CCLs (35%) involved in heinous crimes belong to the slab of ¹6,175-18,496 income suggesting potential link between lower income and the severity of the offence. About 25% of the CCLs from heinous offence group belong to high income slabs (¹46,129 and above).
Table 4 presents levels of depressive symptoms (DASS-Y) among CCLs categorised as per the type of offence. About 10% of the CCLs (serious offence) and 25% of CCLs (heinous offence) showed normal depressive symptoms on DASS-Y. Milder forms of depression were present in CCLs with serious offences and present in only 5% of those involved in heinous offences. Moderate depression levels was absent in CCLs involved in serious offences but present in 25% of those involved in heinous offences. Extremely severe depression levels were
Table 4
Frequencies of Depression Levels in CCLs
present in only 5% of CCL involved in serious offences but 25% of CCLs involved in heinous offences reported extremely severe forms of depression indicating a significant proportion experiencing problems of depression and its interlinkage with heinous offences.
Table 5
Frequencies of Anxiety Interpretation
Table 5 presents the levels of anxiety levels in CCLs. Equal levels of anxiety (10% of the sample in each) were seen in both the groups. Milder forms of anxiety levels were absent in CCLs involved in serious offences and only 5% of CCLs involved in heinous offences showed milder levels of anxiety. A significant proportion of CCLs involved in heinous offences showed moderate (15%) and extremely severe levels (50%) of anxiety on DASS-Y.
Table 6
Frequencies of Alcohol Use
Table 6 presents frequencies of alcohol con- sumption among CCLs in both groups. A sig- nificant proportion of CCLs involved in heinous offences reported for alcohol use on NIDA. A smaller proportion (10%) of CCLs involved in serious offences reported the use of alcohol.
Table 7
Frequencies of Tobacco Smoke
Table 7 presents the tobacco use among CCLs in both groups. About 75% of CCLs involved in heinous offences reported for tobacco smoking in contrast with a smaller proportion of CCL (15%) involved in serious offences.
Table 8
Frequencies of Tobacco Smokeless
Table 8 presents frequency of smokeless tobacco users in both groups. No smokeless tobacco user for found among CCLs involved in serious offences. About 15% of smokeless tobacco users were found among CCLs in heinous offences.
Table 9
Frequencies of Cannabis
Table 9 presents the frequency of cannabis users in both groups. About 10% of cannbis users belong to the group of serious offenders and 30 % of them belonged to the group of heinous offenders.
Table 10
Frequencies of Inhalant
Table 10 presents the frequency of inhalant users in both groups. Inhalant use was absent among serious offenders and present in only about 5% CCLs involved in heinous offences.
Table 11
Frequencies of Sleeping Pills Sedatives
Table 11 presents the frequency of sleeping pill users in both groups. Use of sleeping pills was absent in serious offenders but present in heinous offenders (10%).
Table 12
Frequencies of Street Opioid
Table 12 presents the frequency of street opioids (smack use) in both groups. Use of street opioids was absent among serious offenders but present in 20% of heinous offenders.
Table 13 describes the scores for aggression among CCLs measured on Peer Conflict Scale aggression levels and variability compared to serious offences, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address severe aggressive behaviours.
Table 13
Score for Aggression on Peer Conflict Scale
Table 14
Frequency distribution of Suicidal Ideation
Table 14 presents the frequency distribution of suicidal ideation on SIDAS categorised by type of offence. Suicidal ideation was absent in serious (PCS) categorised by the type of offence and aggression type - Proactive overt (PO), Proactive relational (PR), Reactive Overt (RO) and Reac- tive Relational (RR). For serious offences, the mean aggression scores range from 2.00 (RR) to 8.33 (RO), with positive skewness indicating infrequent high aggression scores. Heinous offen- ces show higher mean scores, ranging from 3.65 (PO) to 7.76 (RO), with similarly positive skew- ness. Standard deviations and variances are notably higher for Reactive Overt aggression and PCS Total scores, indicating significant vari- ability. Overall, heinous offences show greater offenders while 4 cases (20%) involved heinous offences were having suicidal ideation. This indicates a potential link between the se- verity of offence and the presence of suicidal ideation.
The significant correlations between variables are summarized below:
Proactive overt (PO) and Proactive relational (PR) aggression (rho = 0.843, p < .001) have strong positive correlation suggesting that individuals showing PO aggression are more likely to develop PR aggression.
Proactive Overt (PO) and Reactive Overt (RO) aggression (rho = 0.833, p < .001) have strong positive correlation suggesting that individuals showing PO aggression are more likely to develop RO aggression.
Proactive Overt (PO) and Reactive Relational (RR) aggression (rho = 0.724, p < .001) have strong positive correlation suggesting that individuals showing PO aggression are more likely to develop RR aggression.
Proactive Relational (PR) and Reactive Overt (RO) aggression (rho = 0.828, p < .001) have strong positive correlation suggesting that individuals showing PR aggression are more likely to develop RO aggression.
Proactive Relational (PR) and Reactive Relational (RR) aggression (rho = 0.804, p < .001) have strong positive correlation suggesting that individuals showing PR aggression are more likely to develop RR aggression.
Reactive Overt (RO) and Reactive Rela- tional (RR) aggression (rho = 0.727, p < .001) have strong positive correlation suggesting that individuals showing RO aggression are more likely to develop RR aggression.
Proactive Relational (PR) aggression and Depression (rho = 0.571, p = 0.008) suggesting mod- erate positive correlation indicating that higher levels of PR aggression are linked with higher levels of depression.
Proactive Relational (PR) aggression and Anxiety (rho = 0.413, p = 0.07) suggesting that marginal positive correlation indicating that increased proactive relational aggression may be linked with higher levels of anxiety.
Reactive Relational (RR) aggression and Depression (rho = 0.63, p = 0.003) suggesting that strong positive correlation indicating higher levels of RR aggression are linked with higher levels of depression.
Reactive Relational (RR) and Anxiety (rho = 0.582, p = 0.007) suggesting that moderate posi- tive correlation indicating that higher levels of RR aggression linked with higher levels of anxiety.
Reactive Relational (RR) and Stress (rho = 0.513, p = 0.021) suggesting that moderate positive correlation indicating that higher levels of RR aggression are associated with higher levels of stress.
SIDAS total and Reactive Relational (RR) aggression (rho = 0.515, p = 0.02) suggesting that moderate positive correlation indicating that higher levels of suicidal ideation are linked with higher levels of RR aggression
DISCUSSION
The aim of the current study was to study the prevalence and relationships between mental health problems, aggression, suicidal ideation, and substance use in children in conflict with the law (CCL) from a Delhi-based detention centre. The results obtained from this pilot study provide useful information about psychological profiles of institutionalized CCLs, paving the path for tailored interventions and future large scale studies. There exists a significant variabil- ity in sociodemographic characteristics, mental health status, and substance use patterns among accused CCLs for serious and heinous offences.
As per the sociodemographic data, the mean age of CCLs accused of heinous offences was higher, suggesting that older CCLs are more prone to committing heinous offences. Variability in age was also higher in this group, suggesting a a wider range of age for coming in conflict with law under heinous offences. Homogeneity in religion and family head’s occupation was observed among CCLs accused with serious offence while the other group (heinous offence) showed slight variability for these areas. These details provide clues about potential effects of sociodemographic factors on the type of offences and its severity among CCLs.
Mental health problems were assessed by using DASS-Y (depression, anxiety, and stress Scale for youth) in this study. Moderate to extre- mely severe levels of depression and anxiety were observed among CCLs accused with heinous offences making an explicit about the existence of a strong linkage between severe mental health problems and heinous offences (Chung et al., 2020; Lüdtke et al., 2018). The presence of extreme depressive symptoms among CCLs ac- cused with heinous offence aligns with previous research (da Silva et al., 2021).
Levels of aggression were measure by using Peer Conflict Scale (PCS). The scores were significantly higher among CCLs accused of hein-ous offences. Strong positive correlations were observed between different forms of aggression (proactive and reactive) indicating towards the presence of psychological problems being manifested as different forms of aggression (Kelly et al., 2019).
Children in conflict with law accused of heinous offences reported higher rates of alcohol, tobacco, cannabis, and street opioids (smack) use in comparison to the other group. The findings are consistent with previous studies based on the exploration of link between drug use and offences (Gisin et al., 2012; Heirigs et al., 2019). This suggests the need for the development of effective interventions for targeting substance use and further chances of recidivism among institutiona- lised CCLs.
Suicidal ideation was measured by using SIDAS scale revealing presence of suicidal thoughts and wishes in 20% of CCLs accused of heinous offences, while it was absent in the other group. Findings are in line with previous studies indicating towards the existence of association between suicidal ideation and committed offences (Bhatta et al., 2014). The existence of moderate positive correlation between suicidal ideation and reactive relational (RR) aggression further indicates towards the presence of mental health issues among this population necessitating a need for intervention and planning and conducting large scale studies.
Furthermore, strong positive correlations exist between different forms of aggression. Also positive correlations exists between aggression (both proactive and reactive) and mental health issues (depression, anxiety, and stress) suggesting that addressing mental health problems could potentially reduce aggressive and offences or vice-versa (Lemos & Faísca, 2015).
CONCLUSION
The current study has its own challenges and limitations including: small sample size due to which findings cannot be generalised to the broader population; the statistical power of statis- tical packages used in such small scale studies is usually low due to which it makes difficult comment upon significant relationship status between variables; data collection from only one centre of Delhi marked by unique challenges like regional bias and institutional specificity and social desirability of participant responses which includes modification or manipulation of responses particularly in context of fast-track adjudication by Juvenile Justice Boards. This is generally seen in terms of fear of negative consequences, influences of authority figures and lack of trust on researcher regarding confiden- tiality and anonymity related to the data collec- tion.
The results of the study however suggest that CCLs older in age are more likely to be accused of committing heinous offences. The results also indicate towards the presence of severe mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety, being prevalent among CCLs accused of heinous offences in comparison to CCLs accused of serious offences. Also, higher levels of proactive and reactive aggression were observed indicating towards the presence of mental health problems. Alcohol and tobacco were widely prevalent among this sample along with cannabis, and street opioids (smack), being notably high among CCLs accused of heinous offences, suggesting a need effective psychological interven-tions. It is suggested for developing effective evidence based targeted mental health and substance use inter- ventions to meet the needs of institutionalized CCLs and further reduce the likelihood of recidivism.
Conflict of Interest: There is no conflict of interest.
Source of Funding: Authors received no financial support for conducting this study.
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