A meta-analysis of the association between mental disorders and juvenile recidivism

To investigate the association between mental disorders and recidivism in juveniles, a three-level meta-analysis of 20 manuscripts (17 independent studies, N = 5737 juveniles) was conducted. The study focused on internalizing disorders, externalizing disorders, and comorbid disorders (combinations of an internalizing and externalizing disorder). Small to moderate mean effect sizes were found for externalizing disorders (d = 0.415, p < 0.001) and comorbid disorders (d = 0.366, p < 0.001), and no relation was found between internalizing disorders and recidivism (d = 0.016, p = 0.877). For comorbid disorders, no significant variation was found between studies and between effect sizes within studies. Therefore, moderator analyses were only conducted for studies on internalizing and externalizing disorders. These analyses revealed that type of recidivism (e.g., rearrest, reincarceration), type of delinquency (e.g., overt and covert delinquency), and gender influenced the direction and magnitude of the associations between recidivism and internalizing and externalizing disorders.