Factors associated with aggressive and delinquent behaviors among patients attending an adolescent medicine clinic.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine the associations among delinquency/aggressiveness and alcohol or drug use, sexual risk behaviors, and other scales from the Problem-Oriented Screening Instrument for Teenagers (POSIT).

METHOD: A total of 173 15- to 18-year-olds attending adolescent medicine clinic completed a 183-item questionnaire. The questionnaire contained the POSIT, the CAGE questions, a 22-item alcohol and drug screen (AOD), and a human immunodeficiency virus and sexual risk behavior screen. The dependent variable was the Aggressive Behavior/Delinquency (ABD) scale from the POSIT.

RESULTS: There were no gender or racial differences in the ABD scale (p > 0.05). The ABD scale was significantly (p < or = 0.001) associated with the POSIT AOD scale (r = 0.46), the 22-item AOD drug screen (r = 0.57), the CAGE questions (r = 0.39), the sexual risk behavior scale (r = 0.39), and the POSIT physical health (r = 0.34), mental health (r = 0.51), family relations status (r = 0.37), peer relations (r = 0.57), educational status (r = 0.44), social skills (r = 0.31), and leisure/recreation (r = 0.16) scales. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the AOD screen and problems in the area of peer relations, family relations, and mental health accounted for 47.7% of the variation in the ABD scale (p < or = 0.00001).

CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that adolescents who engage in more aggressive and delinquent behaviors are more likely to use alcohol and other drugs, engage in sexual risk behaviors, report problems with peer and family relationships, and report more mental health symptoms.