L’objectif de ce travail était d’explorer certains aspects de la santé physique et mentale et de la capacité à se projeter dans l’avenir des jeunes sous mandat de justice. Le recueil de données a été effectué par auto-questionnaire en ligne auprès d’un échantillon représentatif de 373 jeunes suivis par la protection judiciaire de la jeunesse (PJJ) en Lorraine. Le taux de retour a été de 47 %. Les répondants se composaient de 82 % de garçons, leur âge moyen était de 16,4 ans, et 22,3 % vivaient en hébergement « foyer ». Plus de 9 jeunes sur 10 trouvaient leur santé satisfaisante. Leur score global d’estime de soi (Rosenberg) était de 32,4±6,4 en moyenne, identique à celui de leurs pairs en population générale. Ils disaient avoir des projets et près de 8/10 se disaient confiants dans leurs capacités à réussir dans la vie, surtout ceux qui se sentaient soutenus par leur famille. Ces éléments, à notre connaissance, n’ont jamais été explorés chez ces jeunes et les résultats s’inscrivent quelque peu à l’encontre des représentations habituelles que les professionnels de la santé et de l’éducation ont de ces adolescents. La prise en charge éducative pourrait contribuer à les expliquer. D’autres travaux sont indispensables pour approfondir ces résultats et déterminer l’impact de la prise en charge éducative sur la santé physique et mentale des jeunes.

To describe certain aspects of the physical and mental health of adolescents with restricted or deprived liberty as ordered by the court within the Youth Judicial Protection Service (YJP), and their ability to project themselves into the future.

Survey by on-line self-administered questionnaires.

Among the adolescents, 373 were randomly selected with restricted or deprived liberty, in the Lorraine region (eastern France).

The data were managed and analyzed using the Modalisa^® 7.0 (Kynos, Paris, France) survey processing software. Depending on the type of variable, comparisons were made using the chi-square test or analysis of variance. The significance threshold used was P<0.05.

The response rate was 47%. The respondents included 820% boys and 18% girls, with a mean age of 16.4±1.5 years. More than nine out of ten stated that they were satisfied with their health. Among the girls, 16.7% stated that they had already had thoughts of suicide (boys, 3.8%; P<0.05). Of the total population, 24% said that during the last 12 months, they had needed to see a doctor (or healthcare professional), but they had had to give up the consultation at least once (too far, too expensive, etc.). Their average overall Rosenberg self-esteem score was 32.4±6.4, roughly the same as their peers in the general population (girls, 28.2; boys, 33.2; P<0.05). They said that they had projects for the future and nearly eight out of ten stated that they were confident in their own ability to succeed in their life, especially those who felt supported by their parents.

To our knowledge, these facts had never been explored among adolescents with restricted or deprived liberty. This study shows results that do not match the usual representation of these adolescents by healthcare or education professionals. The quality of the work during the educational support given by the YJP Service could help explain these results.

These findings need to be explored further by additional studies, which could also aim to measure the impact on physical and mental health of the educational support given by Youth Judicial Protection Service.