Psychiatry Research EG

A strong correlation and connection has been observed between drug use and delinquency, as most youths in juvenile commitment programs are involved with drugs compared with nondelinquent youths. Involvement with drugs or alcohol increases the likelihood of continued and serious contact with the juvenile justice system [1,2]. The Council of Juvenile Correctional Administrators reported that 78% of jurisdictions provided substance abuse treatment at one or more of their correctional facilities. Of these, 63% percent reported that they provided substance abuse treatment at most or all of their facilities [3]. It was ascertained that 82% of juvenile delinquents reported being heavy (daily) users of alcohol and other drugs just before admission to the detention facility; 14% were regular users (more than two times weekly); and 4% reported occasional use [4]. However, a high prevalence rate of multiple substance use disorders among juvenile detainees was found, as nearly half of the detainees were found to have one or more substance use disorder, with 21% having two or more [5]. Unfortunately, high risk of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases was found in substance-involved juvenile offenders [6], and they have more serious psychosocial functioning problems, such as novelty seeking, which is a predicable factor and positively correlated with alcoholism and substance abuse and their amounts. In contrast, low harm avoidance is inversely correlated with juvenile delinquents [7–9].Juvenile delinquency is a critical problem that is becoming rampant in Egypt. In a recent report on juvenile crimes in Egypt in 2001, drug use constituted the majority of felonies committed by juveniles in 2001 (668 of 921 felony cases), followed by carrying of armed weapons (133 of 921) [10]. This increases the importance of studying the personality traits and their relation to the pattern and severity of substance use disorders among delinquent adolescents detained in correctional institutes. This work aimed to determine the relationship between substance use among delinquent adolescents and personality characteristics, and its impact on mental health