The Roles of Trauma Exposure, Rejection Sensitivity, and Callous-Unemotional Traits in the Aggressive Behavior of Justice-Involved Youth: A Moderated Mediation Model, Utah, 2015-2019

This longitudinal study examines the associations between exposure to traumatic events, rejection sensitivity, callous-unemotional traits, and aggressive behavior of youth who are involved in the criminal justice system. Assessments were taken across three different timepoints between 2015 and 2019 from youth who, at the time of study enrollment, were recruited from a juvenile detention center in the Western United States (n=320). At each timepoint, youth completed survey-based psychosocial assessments and had physiological data recorded, while caregivers (n=162) answered surveys on their youth's behavior. Administrative records on youth legal charges and incidents in detention were also obtained by the research team to measure recidivism.