Effect of growth trajectories in communication skills on juvenile recidivism

Increasing numbers of children with behavior problems in school are recognized as having language and communication difficulties. However, communication limitations have not been assessed adequately as a risk factor for juvenile recidivism. Furthermore, few studies have used longitudinal data to link the change in communication skills and subsequent engagement in crime. To address this seriously understudied question, this study used four waves of longitudinal data of youth who were placed in juvenile justice residential facilities to investigate how the growth trajectories of communication skills impacted recidivism. Group-based trajectory and multivariate regression analyses were conducted, which revealed heterogeneous growth in communication skills among residential youth. More interestingly, the scale of growth predicted recidivism. Implications for juvenile justice programming were discussed.