The Potential Mediating Impact of Future Orientation on the ACE–Crime Relationship

Prior research has established that having a low future orientation is associated with offending. Additionally, it has been found that being exposed to adverse childhood events such as physical abuse may lower one’s future orientation and increase one’s offending likelihood. One gap in this line of research concerns the potential mediating role of future orientation on the relationship between trauma and offending. The current study fills this gap in the literature using a sample of adjudicated delinquents from a large southern state. The results from the study partially support the hypotheses; while future orientation lowers the likelihood of offending and trauma exposure increases offending likelihood, future orientation does not appear to mediate the relationship between trauma exposure and crime. Limitations and future research directions are discussed