Catia Malvaso

• Ph.D
• Associate Professor at The University of Adelaide

There is convincing evidence that many young people who are in the justice system have had contact with child protection services and that victims of childhood maltreatment are at increased risk of subsequent youth justice involvement. In Australia, however, there have been few longitudinal studies that have examined these associations and relative...

The association between exposure to maltreatment during childhood or adolescence and subsequent delinquent or offending behaviors has been repeatedly documented in the scientific literature. Despite this, the nature of this relationship remains unclear and, in particular, whether problematic behavior arises directly as a result of the maltreatment,...

Although leaving statutory out-of-home care can be a challenging time for many young people, it is recognised that young people who have multiple or complex needs find this transition particularly difficult. This study aims to gain a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by care leavers who have complex needs, as well as to identify some of...

Although the association between childhood maltreatment and the subsequent development of offending behavior is well documented, the association does not necessarily reflect a causal relationship. This paper provides a systematic review of prospective and longitudinal studies using official records of maltreatment to gain insights into the extent t...

In a context in which many calls are made for the reform of youth justice services, little is known about aspects of practice that youth justice staff regard as critical to effective service delivery in community settings. This study reports an analysis of seven focus groups involving 40 Youth Justice staff members from an Australian jurisdiction....

Research has established a relationship between trauma exposure, often conceptualized as Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), and offending, with some evidence suggesting that both trauma and offending can be transmitted from one generation to the next. Further, while some evidence suggests that experiencing a high number of ACEs is associated wit...

It is increasingly recognised by global research that extending out‐of‐home care (OOHC) until at least 21 years of age is the policy reform most likely to advance improved outcomes for care leavers. In recent years, all eight Australian jurisdictions (States and Territories) have introduced forms of extended care programs. Yet, major variations rem...

The term “complex needs” has been used to describe young people who have a range of multiple and co-occurring problems that can be caused by individual level (e.g., psychosocial needs) and broader social-economic factors (e.g., homelessness, child maltreatment, justice system involvement). Coordinating the multiple services required to support thes...

Objectives To investigate the number of mental health‐related hospitalisations of adolescents (12–17 years) in South Australia by level of contact with the child protection system (0–11 years). Study design Whole‐of‐population descriptive study; analysis of de‐identified linked administrative data from the Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Da...

Youth justice in Australia is at a crossroads. A series of recent reviews and inquiries have called for major reform of the sector and identified the need to develop and deliver new and different ways of working. And yet implementing change in youth justice has proven difficult, with an absence of strong and effective leadership identified as a par...

Findings of high rates of complex trauma among justice-involved young people have engendered interest in developing trauma-informed youth justice systems. Although there have been several reviews of trauma-informed practice in youth justice settings, uncertainty remains about whether this approach can produce the outcomes expected of youth justice...

Exposure to adversity or maltreatment is known to correlate with high-risk behaviors that can increase the risk of contact with the criminal justice system; however, few studies have focused on the role of trauma symptoms and other behaviors that may develop in response to exposure to adverse life events. We also know far less about the role of the...

Objectives: To examine the burden of mental health-related hospitalisations among adolescents by levels of previous child protection contact. Design, setting and participants: Whole-of-population study of children born in South Australia, 1991-1999 (n=175,115), using de-identified linked administrative data from the Better Evidence Better Outcomes...

Youth justice services around the world are under increasing pressure to find new and more effective ways of working with young people. One way forward is to implement a more compassionate approach to service delivery that embraces the idea of ‘trauma-informed practice’. And yet, substantial variation has been observed in how a trauma-informed appr...

This article aims to identify interactions between harsh discipline and poor supervision and other childhood risk factors (all measured at age 8-10) in predicting delinquency. It analyzes data collected in the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD), which is a prospective longitudinal study of 411 London males first assessed at age 8. Of...

In Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are much more likely to be arrested, charged with criminal offences and imprisoned than other Australians. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders comprise 49% of young people in detention but only 5.8% of the Australian population aged 10–17. This study investigated changes between 1997 an...

Purpose Recent years have seen significant policy and practice interest in how to best respond to the impact of childhood maltreatment and adversity on young people’s contact with youth justice systems. In Australia, this has resulted in increasing pressure to implement trauma-informed practice, although this is a term that has different meanings f...

Many young people in the criminal justice systems of both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand will have cognitive disabilities and neurodiversity, and substantial challenges arise in efforts to provide services that will adequately meet their needs. This is despite the introduction of funding models based on an assessment of individual needs (rather...

Objective To describe how the Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) platform has been used to partner with government agencies to generate evidence to support service reform that contributes to improving outcomes for children and families in contact with the child protection system. ApproachData was drawn from the BEBOLD platform, a...

Objective To examine differences in youth justice (YJ) system contact patterns, early life characteristics, child protection system contact, and adolescent mental health outcomes among young people who have early, late or no contact with the YJ system. ApproachData were from the Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) platform includin...

Objective To investigate how well we can predict which young people will be under Youth Justice (YJ) supervision by age 18, among children placed in out-of-home care (OOHC) before age 10. ApproachData were drawn from the Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) platform, which includes whole-of-population linked administrative data on ~...

This study examines the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a representative sample of young people under youth justice supervision in South Australia. The analysis showed that not only was the prevalence of ACEs particularly high in this population (89% experienced a combination of maltreatment and household dysfunction), but so...

This study examines the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in a representative sample of young people under youth justice supervision in South Australia. The analysis showed that not only was the prevalence of ACEs particularly high in this population (89% experienced a combination of maltreatment and household dysfunction), but so...

Objective: We described development, health and justice system outcomes for children in contact with child protection and public housing. Design: Descriptive analysis of outcomes for children known to child protection who also had contact with public housing drawn from the South Australian (SA) Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD...

Family reunification is an area of high policy importance for child protection systems. The safe return of children from out‐of‐home care to their biological parents or relatives and long‐term family preservation can potentially mitigate the subsequent detrimental effects of separating children from their families. In this paper we describe one typ...

This study examined the association between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and suicidal behaviour in a sample of 1726 young men in an Australian youth justice detention population. Nine ACEs, including child abuse and parental risk factors, were examined. Analyses focused on whether ACEs were associated with suicidal ideation and attempts aft...

Adolescents in out-of-home care generally have poor prospects for reunification with their birth families. However, for some adolescents in care, with deliberate support and intervention, there may opportunities for successful reunification. The Adolescent Reunification Program (ARP) is an Australian program designed to assist young people aged 12–...

Objective: We described development, health and justice system outcomes for children in contact with child protection and public housing. Design: Descriptive analysis of outcomes for children known to child protection who also had contact with public housing drawn from the South Australian (SA) Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) p...

Understanding the impacts of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has rapidly emerged as an important area of research that has implications for those who work in youth justice settings. This paper identifies a series of considerations facing those who work in jurisdictions where Indigenous or First Nations peoples have much higher levels of contac...

Background Numerous studies have demonstrated a strong link between child maltreatment and subsequent youth offending, leading to calls for early intervention initiatives. However, there have been few whole-population studies into the dimensions of statutory child maltreatment responses that can inform these programs. The aim of this study was to i...

This systematic review synthesized current knowledge about the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) among young people known to have offended and examined evidence of associations between ACEs, trauma symptoms, and offending behavior. A systematic search of English-language, peer-reviewed studies published from the year 2000 onwards w...

Research indicates that individuals with Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are more likely to offend, and that some ACEs, such as offending and child maltreatment, are transmitted from one generation to the next. However, the extent to which ACEs are transferred across generations and its subsequent impact on offending has not been examined. Usi...

This report describes young people's (aged 10 to 17 years) involvement with the Youth Justice system in South Australia using linked administrative data from the Better Evidence Better Outcomes Linked Data (BEBOLD) platform.

This report examines the overlap between the Youth Justice and Child Protection systems in South Australia and profiles selected characteristics of children and young people who had involvement with these systems.

A significant international child protection issue is the gradual increase in the number of children in statutory out-of-home care (OOHC). This has led to strong policy interest in family reunification or family restoration; however, dedicated reunification programs that aim to reunify children who have been in care longer-term appear to be rare. I...

Background Numerous studies have demonstrated a strong link between child maltreatment and subsequent youth offending, leading to calls for early intervention initiatives. However, there have been few whole-population studies into the dimensions of statutory child maltreatment responses that can inform these programs. The aim of this study was to i...

Researchers and policymakers have called for a shift from incident-driven statutory child protection responses to greater investment in coordinated system-wide child and family focused approaches to preventing child maltreatment. However, system-wide capacity to prevent maltreatment is limited without an intelligent information infrastructure that...

Evolutionary psychologists claim that stepparents perpetrate substantially more child physical abuse than genetic parents, and that they do so because they are less invested in genetically unrelated children. The objective of this study was to examine these claims by investigating whether, and why, fathers in a Colombian sample physically abused th...

People who engage in gambling are known to hold erroneous views about the nature of gambling. One of the most commonly observed cognitive biases is the illusion of control, where people’s subjective appraisal of contingency between behavior and events is greater than the objective contingency. Such beliefs have been found to be strongest in problem...

Background: High prevalence of chronic middle ear disease has persisted in Australian Aboriginal children, and the related hearing impairment (HI) has been implicated in a range of social outcomes. This study investigated the association between HI in early childhood and youth offending. Method: This was a retrospective cohort study of 1533 Abor...

People who commit sexual offences are a heterogeneous group, with research suggesting that children and young people commit a large proportion of all sex offences, especially those committed against other children. This systematic review provides a synthesis of literature concerning the characteristics of children and adolescents who exhibit harmfu...

Adolescent relational violence has significant and pervasive impacts for young people's current and future relationships. It is known that there is a cross‐over between adolescent family violence and other offending behaviour, meaning there is a need for youth justice systems to recognise and respond to these forms of violence. This paper outlines...

In the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, 411 London boys (generation 2 or G2 males) have been followed up from age 8 to age 56. In addition, their parents (generation 1 or G1) and their children (generation 3 or G3) have been interviewed. This chapter investigates the relationship between childhood physical punishment and later convictions...

Empirical knowledge about the prevalence and interrelatedness of adverse childhood experiences in young people involved in youth justice systems in Australia is limited. This study examined the prevalence of adverse childhood experiences in a sample of young people who were detained in youth justice services in South Australia. It also explored how...

Objective According to Diener (1984), wellbeing is a multi‐faceted concept reflecting satisfaction with life, good physical health, and fewer negative psychological symptoms. Using data from a 10‐year longitudinal study of school leavers (n = 390), we examine whether people aged 25 can be differentiated into clusters based on indicators of wellbein...

There is now convincing evidence that childhood maltreatment is associated with youth offending; however, relatively little is known about the characteristics and needs of those who are involved in both the child protection and youth justice systems, and the extent to which these might differ according to level of child protection involvement. This...

Background: Past reviews of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for anger have focused on outcome in specific subpopulations, with few questions posed about research design and methodology. Since the turn of the century, there has been a surge of methodologically varied studies awaiting systematic review. Aims: The basic aim was to review this r...

Objective: This study investigated the extent to which violent offending in a population of young people detained in secure care facilities is related to variations in child maltreatment after controlling for other known individual and social correlates of crime. Method: Official child protection and youth justice records and survey information for...

A REPORT TO THE ROYAL COMMISSION INTO INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSES TO CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE

A report commissioned and funded by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse

This article explores what's known about the complex relationship between child maltreatment and youth offending. This is the first in a series of short articles exploring why children and young people in out-of-home care or who have a history of maltreatment are over-represented in the youth justice system. This article focuses on the complex link...

The purpose of the present study was to extend the external validity of an earlier longitudinal study of school leavers by including participants from a representative sample of secondary schools. Questionnaires were administered annually to a sample of South Australian school leavers over a 10-year period. At Time 1 participants were in the last c...

Although a large number of studies offer consistent and persuasive evidence that exposure to childhood maltreatment and subsequent juvenile offending behaviours are related, relatively few studies have investigated the mechanisms by which maltreatment might increase risk in young offender populations. The aim of this pilot study was to collate data...

Objectives The aim of this methodological evaluation study is to examine the likely effects of sample attrition on the social and psychological outcomes variables often examined in studies of school leavers and which have been included in many studies of employment. Methods We examine the effects of sample attrition based on analysis of a recently...

Pseudoneglect is a tendency to pay more attention to the left side of space, typically demonstrated on tasks like visuo-spatial line bisection, tactile rod bisection and the mental representation of numbers. The developmental trajectory of this bias on these three tasks is not fully understood. In the current study younger participants aged between...

Objective: Few studies have examined whether factors related to suicide ideation alone are also related to suicide plans and attempts. The aim of this study was to examine the psychological and social factors associated with different levels of suicide risk in Australian adolescents. Method: A sample of 2,552 young people aged 14-16 years completed...

Leaving statutory out-of-home care (OOHC) is a challenging time for many young people; however, certain groups have greater difficulty transitioning to independence. This includes young people with multiple and complex needs, such as those suffering from mental health problems and disabilities, as well as young people with borderline conditions or...

The importance of socially supportive relationships in assisting people to cope with stress and adverse events is well recognised, but the trajectories whereby individuals develop the capacity to attract those supports have been infrequently studied. Taking advantage of a substantial longitudinal data set, we aimed to explore the precursors during...

This study examined the predictors of childhood injury in biological families compared with stepfamilies using data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). An elevated risk of both any injury and multiple injuries was found for children in stepfamilies. Logistic regressions were used to assess the net effects of contextual, careg...

The link between childhood maltreatment and subsequent offending behaviour is well established, and data from the child welfare system is commonly used to examine the maltreatment-offending association. This study used data from the first national comparative profile study of high-support needs children undertaken in Australia to determine which fa...