Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Dissertation

Abstract

Prior research on justice system involvement for youth has indicated that contact with the system often predicts negative outcomes across a variety of domains, notably future criminal system involvement and mental health issues. Out-of-home placement is the most severe form of juvenile justice system contact, with research indicating that these placements may pose particular risk of future harm to youths, likely due to their removal from their homes. However, research has failed to test directly for potential reasons for these harms. The present study uses a justice system involved sample of 1,216 adolescent males (mean age 15.29 years at arrest; SD = 1.29) from the Crossroads Study, who were followed for seven years after their first arrest. The study examined the longitudinal impact of out-of-home placement on these youth, testing the effects of types of out-of-home placements and examining several potential mediating factors that could influence the effects of these placements. Results demonstrate that out-of-home placement in adolescence predicted later antisocial behavior (i.e., record of arrest and self-reported offending), but not internalizing problems (i.e., anxiety and depression), in young adulthood. Further, these outcomes were partially mediated by relational and experiential factors. Specifically, when the outcome was self-reported offending, the pattern of mediation was the same regardless of placement type (i.e., secure or nonsecure). That is, the relationship between out-of-home placement and self-reported offending was partially mediated by peer delinquency and exposure to violence. A different pattern of mediation was found for the arrest outcome, with secure placement partially mediated only by educational attainment and nonsecure placement partially mediated only by exposure to violence. These results support previous findings suggesting that out-of-home placements may have a negative impact on justice-involved youth by increasing their risk for future criminal behavior and strengthens this work by providing support for several key explanations for this negative impact.

Date

7-8-2026

Committee Chair

Frick, Paul J.

LSU Acknowledgement

1

LSU Accessibility Acknowledgment

1

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