ANN ARBOR—Emotional support from loved ones can help prevent depression among girls in the juvenile justice system?many of whom have experienced abuse, a new study indicates.

These family interactions, such as girls hearing from people that believed in or loved them, may help create positive coping strategies to keep youths from getting into further trouble, said researchers from the University of Michigan and University of Pittsburgh.

“An absence of family support and experiences of physical and emotional abuse were direct predictors of depressive symptoms,” said Mary Ruffolo, an associate professor in U-M’s School of Social Work.

In a new study published in the recent issue of Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice, Ruffolo and colleagues analyzed data from surveys of 186 girls in juvenile justice and alternative programs. The girls were asked about family risk factors, protective factors, coping strategies, delinquent behavior, substance use and mental health.

When the girls felt stressed, they sometimes coped by not talking to anyone, avoiding their problems or acting out by throwing or hitting something, the research shows. Girls who lived at home or in community-based residential programs were less likely than those in closed residential placement?where girls are considered to be a medium security risk and their activities are monitored by staff 24 hours a day?to use these negative coping strategies.

The researchers say that girls with close female friends tended to have more positive experiences and behaviors, including supportive family environments and positive coping strategies, and less likelihood of gang and drug involvement.

On the other hand, girls with close male friends were more likely to have lived in a foster care or group home, to have been physically abused, to have experienced a stressful family environment while growing up, and to have engaged in delinquent behaviors.

“Although the presence of close girlfriends is clearly a protective factor for girls, having close male friends seems to be more of a risk factor and a result of previous negative experiences,” said Sara Goodkind, the study’s lead author and professor at the University of Pittsburgh.

The researchers believe that early intervention in troubled girls’ lives could prevent many of them from entering the justice system. Intervention must develop positive coping strategies and help girls deal with emotions resulting from abuse and other difficult experiences, they say.

The study’s other authors are Deborah Bybee, an assistant research scientist, and Rosemary Sarri, professor emerita, both from U-M’s School of Social Work.

School of Social Work