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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2026 Mar 24.
Published before final editing as: J Crime Justice. 2025 Mar 24:10.1080/0735648X.2025.2482264. doi: 10.1080/0735648X.2025.2482264

Table 2:

Variable Descriptions and Descriptive Statistics (N = 1,808)

Variable Name Description Mean (%) SD
Outcomes
Documented gang activity Youth documented as a gang member 22.00
Escalation into Adult System Youth arrested as adult 47.00
Level of Exposure
Gang Exposure Index (0–3) Exposure to gang and criminal involved family and peers. 0.37 0.67
Exposure to criminal legal circles (0–4) Exposure to criminal involved family and peers. 1.38 1.04
Type of Exposure
Father’s criminal justice involvement Father had contact with criminal justice system 19.00
Father criminal justice & gang involved Father documented as gang member 9.00
Mother’s criminal justice involvement Mother had documented contact with the criminal justice system 15.00
Same generation criminal justice involved Sibling or cousin had contact with the criminal justice system 27.00
Same generation criminal justice & gang involved Sibling or cousin documented as a gang member 8.00
Peer criminal justice involved Peers had contact with the criminal justice system 41.00
Peer criminal justice & gang involved Peers were documented as a gang member 19.00
School
Significant school attachment Youth had significant attachments, beliefs, commitment, and/or involvement in school 48.00
Total school disruptions Number of school disruptions recorded by system personnel 0.50 0.80
Family
Poor family supervision Family is unaware where the youth goes and with whom 44.00
Dependency referral Youth had been involved in a child dependency case 23.00
Individual Characteristics
Race/Ethnicity
Youth identifies as White 42.00
Youth identifies as African American 34.00
Youth identifies as Hispanic 18.00
Youth identifies as Native American or Other 6.00
Impulsive behavior Youth has exhibited a pattern of impulsivity combined with aggressive behavior 29.00
Age of first criminal referral Age at first criminal referral 14.45 1.63
Total juvenile criminal referrals Number of criminal referrals before turning 18 5.05 4.30
Total days spent in detention Number of days a youth spent in detention within the juvenile legal system 44.93 67.26
Weapons crime charge ever Youth had a weapon charge before turning 18 years old 20.00
Years Since 18th Birthday Number of years since a youth’s 18th birthday 10.77 3.72