A 10 to 25 year follow-up, of two randomly selected groups of previously adjudicated delinquents from two Pennsylvania (U.S.A.) counties, reveals that the longer the elapsed time between first contact with the juvenile justice system and adjudication-the worse the prognosis for a criminal conviction in adult life. In both counties, those delinquent youth who were adjudicated at first juvenile court referral hadsignificantly lower rates of adult conviction than those delinquent youth who were adjudicated at a later referral. The type of adjudication disposition (probation vs. placement) did not make a difference in adult outcome.
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