Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Role of Low Self-Control as a Mediator between Trauma and Antisociality/Criminality in Youth

2021; Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute; Volume: 18; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3390/ijerph18020567

1661-7827

Pedro Pechorro, Matt DeLisi, Rui Abrunhosa Gonçalves, João Pedro Oliveira,

Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development

Trauma exposure and low self-control are robustly associated with youth antisocial/criminal problems, but the interrelation of these constructs is unclear when taking into account both traumatic events and reactions. The objective of the present study is to examine self-control mediation effects related to trauma and juvenile delinquency, conduct disorder, crime seriousness, and aggression outcomes. The sample consisted of N = 388 male youth from Portugal (age, M = 16.01 years, SD = 1.03, age range = 13–18 years). Path analysis procedures revealed that self-control partially mediates the relation between trauma events and the examined outcomes and fully mediates the relation between trauma reactions and the examined outcomes. Research on youth trauma should examine both trauma events and trauma reactions because they have differential effects on low self-control and antisocial/criminal outcomes.