Abstract
Truant youths represent a critical group needing problem-oriented research and involvement in effective services. The limited number of studies on the psychosocial functioning of truant youths have focused on one or a few problem areas, rather than examining comorbid problem behaviors. The present study addresses the need to examine the interrelationships of multiple domains of psychosocial functioning, including substance involvement, mental health, and delinquency, among truant youths. Exploratory structural equation modeling on baseline data collected on 219 truant youths identified two major factors reflecting psychosocial functioning and found that the factor structure was similar across major sociodemographic subgroups. Further analyses supported the validity of the factor structure. The research and service delivery implications of the findings are discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 440-465 |
| Number of pages | 26 |
| Journal | Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Nov 2012 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The research reported in this article was funded by NIDA Grant #DA021561. The authors are grateful for NIDA’s support, as well as the local participating agencies. Address correspondence to Richard Dembo, PhD, Criminology Department, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, FL 33620, USA. E-mail: jac@gate.net
Keywords
- delinquency
- mental health
- psychosocial problems
- substance use
- truancy
