Neuropsychological Assessment in Schooled Adolescent Offenders and Non-Offenders

Abstract

Adolescents who break the law have experienced situations that increase the likelihood of becoming involved in criminal activities such as drug use, gang involvement, adverse economic conditions, among others. All this, added to their stage of human development, which is characterized by physical, cognitive, social and emotional changes, can lead them to have deficiencies in their cognitive processes and at the same time present educational difficulties. The purpose of this study is to evaluate different cognitive processes of these adolescents in comparison to a control group with similar characteristics but who have not committed any crime and whose education has not been interrupted. For this purpose, were included (n = 62) adolescent offenders and (n = 62) adolescent non-offenders of male sex and aged 14 to 18 years was taken. Basic sociodemographic data on their education and psychoactive substance use were collected, as well as cognitive data with tests such as Ineco Frontal Screening for executive functions, Montreal Cognitive Assessment for general functions, among others. The results showed significant differences in executive functions, attentional processes, memory and language. These difficulties can be key to school performance, therefore, educational interventions adapted to these adolescents are suggested.