Despite calls for strength-focused approaches in juvenile justice, there is little research on the role of strengths in probation case management. This is one of the first studies to examine whether strengths function as specific responsivity factors as proposed by the risk–need–responsivity model, through mediating and moderating effects, and findings lend preliminary support to this conceptualization. In a sample of 261 justice-involved youth, the relationship between strengths and recidivism was found to be partially mediated by the service-to-needs match rate, even while controlling for risk—suggesting that strengths have an important indirect effect on recidivism through their impact on youth’s engagement in and completion of services. Strengths, however, did not moderate the relationship between service-to-needs match and reoffending, suggesting that appropriately matched services are essential irrespective of a youth’s strength profile. Research corroborating these findings and examining the feasibility of front-line use of strengths information is warranted.

尽管呼吁在少年司法中采用以优势为中心的方法，但很少有关于优势在缓刑案件管理中的作用的研究。这是通过中介和调节作用来检验优势是否作为风险-需求-响应模型所提出的特定响应因素发挥作用的首批研究之一，研究结果为这一概念提供了初步支持。在 261 名涉及正义的青年样本中，发现优势和累犯之间的关系部分受服务与需求匹配率的调节，即使在控制风险的情况下——这表明优势通过其对累犯的重要间接影响对青年参与和完成服务的影响。然而，优势并没有缓和服务与需求匹配与重新犯罪之间的关系，表明无论青年人的实力如何，适当匹配的服务都是必不可少的。有必要进行研究证实这些发现并检查在一线使用优势信息的可行性。