Testing gender-differentiated models of the mechanisms linking polyvictimization and youth offending: Numbing and callousness versus dissociation and borderline traits
Abstract
The increasing prevalence of girls in the juvenile justice system suggests the importance of examining whether models of adolescent offending are differentiated by gender. Polyvictimization has emerged as a robust predictor of youth justice involvement, especially for girls, and research exploring mechanisms underlying the link between polyvictimization and offending suggests further gender differences in that callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been implicated in samples of boys whereas borderline personality (BP) traits have been implicated amongst girls. However, a limitation of these studies is that most have included all-male or all-female samples, thus not allowing for comparisons across gender. Further, few studies have used a trauma-informed lens to investigate posttraumatic symptoms, particularly dissociation and emotional numbing, that might account for these associations. To address this gap, this study investigated associations among polyvictimization, dissociation, numbing, CU, BP, and offending in a sample of 782 youth (579 boys and 203 girls) recruited from a detention center. As hypothesized, for both genders, polyvictimization was related to BP through the indirect effect of dissociation and to CU through the indirect effect of emotional numbing. Further, for both genders, path models indicated indirect effects on the association between polyvictimization and offending through dissociation and BP. These results suggest the value of using a trauma-informed approach to understanding youth justice involvement and continuing to fine-tune models of gender differences in traumatized girls' and boys' offending.
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Adults with BPD and adolescents with BPD features also are at increased risk for abuse or re-victimization as adults and for cumulative polyvictimization across the lifespan.
“Adults with BPD [14, 96, 98, 118, 121] and adolescents with BPD features [89, 154, 182] also are at increased risk for abuse or re-victimization as adults and for cumulative polyvictimization across the lifespan.”
From Complex PTSD and borderline personality disorder (2021) · cites this paper as [89]
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- Authors
- Kerig, P. K., & Modrowski, C. A.
- Affiliations
- University of Utah (US)
- Corresponding author
- Kerig, Patricia K.
- Venue
- Journal of Trauma & Dissociation
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-03-16
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 347-361
- ISSN
- 1529-9732 (ISSN-L)
- 1529-9740
- OpenAlex
- W2792613688
- Cited by
- 29
- References
- 62
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 1 · 2024: 3 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5
- FWCI
- 5.28
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Trauma & Dissociation (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Justice (2014-R2-CX-0020)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Psychopathy, Forensic Psychiatry, Sexual Offending
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Crime Patterns and Interventions
- Keywords
- polyvictimization, juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice involvement, gender differences, callous-unemotional traits, borderline personality traits, dissociation, emotional numbing, trauma-informed approach, posttraumatic stress symptoms, adolescent girls, juvenile detention
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Borderline Personality Disorder, Child, Child Abuse, Dissociative Disorders, Female, Humans, Juvenile Delinquency, Male, Psychiatric Status Rating Scales, Sex Factors, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, United States, Crime Victims, Young Adult, Apathy
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