Delinquency and the profile of offences among depressed and non-depressed adolescents.

Background: Depression has previously been found to be closely connected to adolescent delinquency, but little is known about how depression is related to different types of delinquency.

Aim: To investigate patterns of criminal behaviour according to depression among repeatedly delinquent adolescents.

Method: The sample was 14- to 16-year-old repeatedly delinquent adolescents (n 3679) taking part in the Finnish School Health Promotion Study, surveyed for versatility and specialization of delinquency in relation to depression.

Results: Patterns of criminal behaviour differed between depressed and non-depressed delinquent adolescents. The delinquent behaviour of depressed adolescents was more versatile than that of non-depressed adolescents who mainly specialized in one offence type. Non-depressed delinquent boys had most often specialized in violence. Most depressed delinquent boys had committed a variety of offences, but among those who did specialize the specialist category was violent offences. Non-depressed delinquent girls had specialized in shoplifting. Among depressed delinquent girls vandalism was the most typical offence.

Conclusion: Differences in the delinquent behaviour of depressed and non-depressed delinquent adolescents suggest the value of including clinical assessment, and treatment for some, in an appropriately comprehensive pattern of management.