What the MAYSI-2 Can Tell Us About Anger–Irritability and Trauma

Abstract

The rate of experiencing trauma can be quite high for juvenile offenders and those experiences can lead to feelings of anger and irritability. This study uses Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument–Version 2 (MAYSI-2) data to examine the relationship between the Traumatic Experiences (TE) and Angry–Irritable (AI) scales for juvenile offenders ( N = 1,348) from a Midwest detention center. Chi-square analyses revealed statistically significant relationships between the AI scale and gender, race, and the TE scale. In addition, ordinal logistic regression results showed that as the number of traumatic experiences increased, so did the odds of scoring Caution or Warning on the AI scale. Recommendations are that juvenile justice systems utilize a trauma-informed process throughout the adjudicatory process and there be improved efforts to coordinate services across multiple systems, such as child welfare and special education, where juvenile offenders are often engaged.