PARENTAL OCCUPATION AND FAMILY SOCIOECONOMIC POSITION AS CORRELATES OF EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN IN CONFLICT WITH LAW AND NON-CCL ADOLESCENTS

Abstract

Background:Growing up in a less-than-affluent home can influence a teen's emotions and actions, and this may have even greater implications for teens already involved in the justice system. In this study, parental occupation, as a simple measure of family socioeconomic position, was examined to determine whether it is associated with emotional and behavioural problems in children with a Child and Young Person Child Protection record (CCL) and those without a record (Non-CCL). We obtained 60 complete, anonymous questionnaires from 600 adolescents (300 CCL and 300 Non CCL), aged 14–18 years, in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, completed using the Achenbach Youth Self-Report (YSR). We grouped parents into two broad occupation groups: labour and other occupations. For adolescents, those who experienced higher anxiety and depression levels, as well as higher withdrawal behaviour, social issues, rule-breaking tendencies and aggressive behaviour, were all higher, on average, when their parents were working as labour workers as compared to those of other parents who worked in different occupations. In the CCL group, adolescents who worked in labour withdrew more. They experienced more social difficulty, whereas the other adolescents in the CCL job group experienced more thought and attention problems. The groups did not differ in somatic complaints. Based on these results, it appears that parental occupation is not in isolation, but in conjunction with justice involvement when creating varying emotional and behavioural problems in children. The findings suggest the value of family-centred, occupation sensitive support for the CCL population rather than a one-size-fits-all family intervention paradigm.