RISK FOR COURT CONTACT AND PREDICTORS OF AN EARLY AGE FOR A FIRST COURT CONTACT AMONG A SAMPLE OF HIGH-RISK YOUTHS - A SURVIVAL ANALYSIS APPROACH

This study examined the rate of court contact and predictors of an ear ly age for a first court contact for a sample of 203 youths who were s een at a children's mental health center; between the ages of 6 and 12 years, for conduct problem behaviours. Survival analyses revealed tha t the probabilities for a male and female to have court contact by age 18 were 65.9% and 32.9%, respectively. The clinician's rating of the child's likeability was a significant predictor of an early age for fi rst court contact for males and a. history of abuse was a significant predictor for females. The implications of these findings for early id entification of high risk youth are discussed.