Persson Linn, Ivert Anna-Karin
Department of Criminology, Malmö University, 205 06, Malmö, Skåne, Sweden.
Child Adolesc Psychiatry Ment Health. 2025 May 19;19(1):59. doi: 10.1186/s13034-025-00907-3.
Mental health problems (MHPs) are associated with youth offending, but research on MHPs among specifically offending girls, particularly in community settings, is limited.
To explore if MHPs were more common among adolescent girls who reported committing crimes compared to those who did not, as well as to investigate how different MHPs were associated with offending, and examine the potential effects of parental relationships, parental monitoring, and association with deviant peers.
Data were drawn from the Malmö Individual and Neighbourhood Development Study (MINDS), a longitudinal study which comprises a random sample of 525 adolescents (~ 20%) born in 1995 and living in Malmö, Sweden, in 2007. The current study included the 240 girls that participated in wave two (age 16) and three (age 17) of data collection. Data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire. Independent samples T-tests analysed differences in MHPs between offending and non-offending girls. Pearson's correlation test and logistic regressions examined the association between MHPs and offending and how these associations were affected by parental relationship, parental monitoring, and deviant peers.
Offending girls had higher levels of MHPs than non-offending girls, with the most significant differences in hyperactivity and externalising problems. Logistic regressions partly confirmed these findings, showing strong associations between externalising problems and offending. Internalising problems showed mixed results in their association with offending.
Girls who had offended had higher levels of both internalising and externalising MHPs compared to those who had not offended. This indicates that measures to prevent youth crime should acknowledge MHPs. Overall, more research is needed on girls' MHPs and offending, particularly on the association between internalising problems and offending.
心理健康问题（MHP）与青少年犯罪有关，但针对特定犯罪女孩的心理健康问题研究有限，尤其是在社区环境中。
探讨与未犯罪的少女相比，报告有犯罪行为的少女中MHP是否更常见，调查不同的MHP如何与犯罪相关联，并研究亲子关系、父母监督以及与不良同伴的交往的潜在影响。
数据来自马尔默个体与社区发展研究（MINDS），这是一项纵向研究，随机抽取了525名1995年出生、2007年居住在瑞典马尔默的青少年（约20%）。本研究纳入了参与第二轮（16岁）和第三轮（17岁）数据收集的240名女孩。数据通过自我报告问卷收集。独立样本t检验分析了犯罪和未犯罪女孩在MHP方面的差异。皮尔逊相关检验和逻辑回归分析了MHP与犯罪之间的关联，以及这些关联如何受到亲子关系、父母监督和不良同伴的影响。
犯罪女孩的MHP水平高于未犯罪女孩，在多动和外化问题上差异最为显著。逻辑回归部分证实了这些发现，表明外化问题与犯罪之间存在强烈关联。内化问题与犯罪的关联结果不一。
与未犯罪的女孩相比，有犯罪行为的女孩在内化和外化MHP方面的水平更高。这表明预防青少年犯罪的措施应承认MHP的存在。总体而言，需要对女孩的MHP和犯罪行为进行更多研究，特别是关于内化问题与犯罪之间的关联。
