Legal system contact increases mental health risks for youth

Youth who have contact with the US legal system may be at increased risk of mental health symptoms including anxiety, depression, hostility, and psychoticism, according to a study published June 17, 2026 in the open access journal PLOS One by Raquel V. Oliveira and Elizabeth Culatta from Augusta University, US.

Prior research indicates that both adults and youth with mental health issues are overrepresented in the criminal legal system. For example, while 15-22 percent of all US youths are estimated to have a diagnosable mental health condition, between 40 and 80 percent of incarcerated youths do.

To better understand how contact with the criminal legal system is associated with mental health, the authors of this study analyzed data from the Pathways to Desistance study, which followed 1,354 youths who had faced an adjudication from a judge in Phoenix, AZ and Philadelphia, PA. The participants were first interviewed between November 2000 and January 2003, when the teens were between 14 and 18 years old, and follow-up interviews were then conducted over a seven-year period. The authors explore if different types of contact with the legal system, including arrest, court appearances, and institutionalization were associated with anxiety, depression, hostility, and psychoticism symptoms.

The experience of being arrested was associated with worse short-term mental health, including more symptoms of anxiety, depression, and psychoticism. Being institutionalized was also associated with increased symptoms of depression, hostility, and psychoticism in the short-term. While court appearances only had a short-term association with decreased anxiety (perhaps indicating relief from the uncertainty of the build-up to the appearance), they had significant long-term associations with increases in anxiety, depression, and psychoticism.

The authors found in their analyses that having two or more concurrent contacts with the legal system is associated with more consistent long-term effects on mental health symptoms. They also note that, unsurprisingly, other factors associated with worse mental health symptoms included substance use and participating in crime, as well as taking mental health medication (likely prescribed to help treat these symptoms).

The Pathways to Desistance study limited the number of male drug offenses it included, making it less representative of all offenses nationwide. Additionally, the study can only identify associations rather than any causative factors. Nonetheless, the authors suggest that contact with the criminal legal system might be a stressor for youth, that can affect mental health symptoms, which can persist years into the future.

The authors add: "Our findings are aligned with prior research and highlight the importance of continued focus on diversion programming and adequate mental health support of youth coming into to contact with the criminal legal system"