Language functioning, mental health and alexithymia in incarcerated young offenders.

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Language functioning, mental health and alexithymia in incarcerated young offenders.

Int J Speech Lang Pathol. 2016 Feb;18(1):20-31

Authors: Snow PC, Woodward M, Mathis M, Powell MB

Abstract
PURPOSE: Previous studies describe high rates of language impairment in young offenders; however, important correlates such as mental health status and alexithymia have received little attention.
METHOD: This study describes a cross-sectional study of the language, emotion recognition and mental health of 100 young people completing custodial sentences in New South Wales (Australia). The sample comprised 70 young people from non-indigenous backgrounds (n = 60 male) and 30 from indigenous backgrounds (n = 25 male). The mean age of the sample was 17.1 years. It was hypothesized that, in addition to elevated rates of language impairment, alexithymia would be over-represented in this group. It was further predicted that impoverished language skills would contribute to alexithymia scores.
RESULT: Only a quarter of the sample overall achieved Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals (CELF-4) Core Language Scores in the expected range; rates of language impairment were higher in indigenous males than in non-indigenous males and in the females. Alexithymia was present in 59% of the sample, but appeared to be associated with poor mental health, rather than with language impairment.
CONCLUSION: Interventions for young offenders (e.g. psychological counselling, restorative justice conferencing) should be framed around these difficulties. Validated language measures for use with young indigenous offenders are needed.

PMID: 28425363 [PubMed - in process]

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