Ecology of Resilience: Examining Impacts of Service Engagement, Facility Safety, and Trauma History on Positive Life Trajectories in Justice-Involved Youth, Arizona and Pennsylvania, 2000-2010 (ICPSR 39894)
Version Date: Aug 13, 2026 View help for published
Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Ava R. Alexander, University of Utah
https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR39894.v1
Version V1
Summary View help for Summary
Guided by dynamic and ecological conceptualizations of long-term resilience, this study examined whether psychosocial services delivered within juvenile residential facilities (RFs) were successful in promoting positive youth trajectories following release, whether facility violence, and, alternatively, staff connectedness influenced the effectiveness of services, and whether effects were further qualified by youth trauma history. Data for the project were drawn from the Pathways to Desistance study, which followed a large sample of juvenile offenders over seven years. A subset of 667 participants who completed release interviews following an RF stay and completed follow-up interviews were included in this study.
This collection includes the syntax files used to clean and analyze the Pathways to Desistance study Subject Measures and Release Measures data. More information about these collections and how to access these data is available on their study pages.
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These study materials are a Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the Principal Investigator. All files have been zipped for release, but not checked or processed. Users should refer to the accompanying ICPSR README file for a brief description of the materials available with this collection and consult with the investigator if further information is needed.
Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose
The study had three main aims:
- To model longitudinal trajectories of justice-involved youths' resilience after release from a residential facility (RF), and to determine whether these trajectories differed based on participation in facility services. Outcomes of interest included self-reported offending, mental health, time spent in gainful pursuits (school or employment), connection to supportive adults, and community involvement.
- To examine whether any impacts of services on youth trajectories were moderated by the level of facility violence (FV), or, alternatively, by staff connectedness (SC).
- To determine whether any moderating effects of FV and SC on the impact of service participation were magnified by youth's histories of trauma exposure.
A fourth, subsidiary aim was to determine whether youth demographics (sex and ethnicity) moderated the effects of service participation on resilience trajectories.
Study Design View help for Study Design
Data for this study were drawn from the Pathways to Desistance study, obtained through ICPSR. In this longitudinal study, 1,354 juvenile offenders from Maricopa County, Arizona and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were recruited over a 26-month period and followed for seven years. Youth participated in a baseline interview and follow-up interviews every six months for the first three years, and then every year for the following four years, resulting in a total of 11 waves of data collection. During each interview, youth completed a number of self-report measures as well as a monthly calendar reporting how and where they had spent their time. In addition to regular follow-ups, youth also completed release interviews within 30 days before or after release from any RF. During these visits, youth completed self-report measures regarding their experiences within the facility.
For this study, a subsample of youth were included who completed at least one release interview and had at least one follow-up time point following the release interview. These criteria resulted in a total sample size of 4,380 observations across 667 youth. Outcome variables were selected from the larger Pathways to Desistance study to assess pertinent domains of youth functioning and resilience, including connections to supportive adults.
Time Method View help for Time Method
Universe View help for Universe
Youths 14-19 years of age from the juvenile and adult court systems in Maricopa County (Phoenix), Arizona, and Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania from November 2000 to April 2003.
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Data Source View help for Data Source
Mulvey, Edward P. Research on Pathways to Desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Subject Measures, 2000-2010. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2016-03-14. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR29961.v2
Mulvey, Edward P. Research on Pathways to Desistance [Maricopa County, AZ and Philadelphia County, PA]: Release Measures, 2000-2010 [Restricted]. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2014-01-09. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR34488.v2
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The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.
ICPSR usually offers files in multiple formats for researchers to be able to access data and documentation in formats that work well within their needs. If you have questions about the accessibility of materials distributed by ICPSR or require further assistance, please visit ICPSR’s Accessibility Center.
This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.