Relationships between Depression, Delinquency, and Victimization among Finnish Youth

Criminal offenders and victims of crime disproportionately have mental health and substance abuse problems that often start well before adulthood. Therefore, it is important to provide a more detailed understanding of the relationships between mental health problems, delinquency, and victimization among youth. Drawing on victim-offender overlap and social interactionist perspectives, using data from the 2010–2011 and 2013 School Health Promotion (SHP) Study of 8th and 9th graders (ages 14–16) in Finland, we develop and estimate models of the relationships between depression, delinquent behavior, and victimization. We find that, net of social bonding, academic performance, alcohol use, and social background factors, victimization partly accounts for the association between depression and delinquency, and that delinquency partly accounts for the association between depression and victimization. We discuss the implications of our findings for theory and research on the dynamics between mental health problems and delinquency, and strategies to help youth facing these issues.