Relationships between social support, resilience and psychological distress among young offenders in Ghana's correctional facilities: A three-wave longitudinal mediation model.

Youth incarceration is beset by psychological challenges, often amplifying distress and hindering healthy development. This study investigates the relationships among social support, resilience, and psychological distress among incarcerated juveniles in Ghana's correctional facilities. A three-wave longitudinal study (6-month interval) was used in a sample of 220 incarcerated juveniles (with a mean age of 16.71 years and SD of 1.53) in both junior and senior correctional centres. The results indicate that resilience at T2 mediated the effect of social support at T1 on psychological distress at T3. Also, T1 social support was inversely associated with both T2 psychological distress and T3 psychological distress. In contrast, several hypothesised cross-lagged paths were non-significant, suggesting that not all resource pathways operate uniformly over time in detention contexts. Sample sizes across waves were T1 = 250, T2 = 242, and T3 = 220. The study emphasises the significance of interventions that strengthen social support networks and foster resilience within correctional facilities. There is a need for research on other determinants of well-being in incarcerated adolescents to inform evidence-based policy and practice.