Insomnia and depressive symptoms mediate childhood abuse and psychotic experience of male juvenile offenders: a chain mediation model

BMC Psychol. 2025 May 21;13(1):539. doi: 10.1186/s40359-025-02722-z.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Male juvenile offenders, a high-risk group with elevated recidivism and violent crime rates, face significant mental health problems, particularly with a high prevalence of psychotic experiences. Childhood abuse is known to play a key role in such experiences. Evidence suggests that insomnia and depressive symptoms may mediate the relationship between childhood abuse and psychotic experiences. This study explores how childhood abuse relates to psychotic experiences in male juvenile offenders, with a focus on the mediating roles of insomnia and depressive symptoms.

METHODS: This is a convenience sampling survey, a total of 500 juvenile male offenders in a correctional facility in southwestern China were recruited. Assessment tools included the Childhood Trauma Screener (CTS) for childhood abuse, the Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS-8) for insomnia, the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 (PHQ-2) for depressive symptoms, and the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences-8 (CAPE-8) for psychotic experiences. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, hierarchical regression, and SEM with SPSS 26.0 and Mplus 8.0.

RESULTS: 475 valid samples were analyzed for demographic variables such as family structure, residence, education, and substance use. Correlation analysis revealed significant positive associations between childhood abuse, insomnia, depressive symptoms, and psychotic experiences, with the strongest correlations observed between insomnia and depressive symptoms (r = 0.44) and between depressive symptoms and psychotic experiences (r = 0.44). Hierarchical regression and structural equation modeling confirmed that childhood abuse significantly predicts psychotic experiences (β = 0.22, p < 0.001), with insomnia (β = 0.42, p < 0.001) and depressive symptoms (β = 0.44, p < 0.001) serving as partial mediators. Mediation analysis indicated that insomnia and depressive symptoms jointly accounted for 28.40% of the variance in psychotic experiences, supporting the proposed chain mediation effect. These findings highlight the interactive mediating roles of insomnia and depressive symptoms in the relationship between childhood abuse and psychotic experiences among male adolescent offenders.

CONCLUSIONS: Insomnia and depressive symptoms mediate the childhood abuse and psychotic experiences among male juvenile offenders. This finding provides valuable insights for mental health interventions aimed at reducing recidivism in this population. Specifically, the results highlight the importance of implementing mental health interventions targeting insomnia and depression within the correctional system, which not only helps improve the mental health of juvenile offenders but also effectively reduces the risk of recidivism.

PMID:40400021 | DOI:10.1186/s40359-025-02722-z