Offending prior to first psychiatric contact: a population-based register study

H Stevens; E Agerbo; K Dean; M Nordentoft; P R Nielsen; P B Mortensen

doi:10.1017/S0033291712000815

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Offending prior to first psychiatric contact: a population-based register study

Journal article

Peer reviewed

Offending prior to first psychiatric contact: a population-based register study

H Stevens, E Agerbo, K Dean, M Nordentoft, P R Nielsen and P B Mortensen

Psychological medicine, Vol.42(12), pp.2673-2684

12/2012

DOI: 10.1017/S0033291712000815

PMID: 22716954

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Abstract

There is a well-established association between psychotic disorders and subsequent offending but the extent to which those who develop psychosis might have a prior history of offending is less clear. Little is known about whether the association between illness and offending exists in non-psychotic disorders. The aim of this study was to determine whether the association between mental disorder and offending is present prior to illness onset in psychotic and non-psychotic disorders. In a nested case-control study, cases (n=101,890) with a first psychiatric contact during the period 1995 to 2006 were identified and matched by age and gender to population-based controls (n=2,236,195). Exposure was defined as prior criminal and violent offending. Males with one offence had an incidence rate ratio (IRR) of 2.32 [95% confidence interval (CI) 2.26-2.40] for psychiatric admission whereas two or more convictions yielded an IRR of 4.97 (95% CI 4.83-5.11). For violent offending the associations were stronger and IRRs of 3.97 (95% CI 3.81-4.12) and 6.18 (95% CI 5.85-6.52) were found for one and several offences respectively. Estimates for females were of a similar magnitude. The pattern was consistent across most diagnostic subgroups, although some variability in effect sizes was seen, and persisted after adjustment for substance misuse and socio-economic status (SES). A prior history of offending is present in almost one in five patients presenting to mental health services, which makes it an important issue for clinicians to consider when assessing current and future risks and vulnerabilities.

Recurrence

Commitment of Mentally Ill - legislation & jurisprudence

Humans

Crime - psychology

Male

Statistics as Topic

Schizophrenic Psychology

Incidence

Street Drugs

Young Adult

Schizophrenia - diagnosis

Commitment of Mentally Ill - statistics & numerical data

Substance-Related Disorders - epidemiology

Adult

Female

Registries

Violence - statistics & numerical data

Mental Disorders - diagnosis

Crime - legislation & jurisprudence

Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis

Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis

Patient Readmission - legislation & jurisprudence

Mental Disorders - epidemiology

Cross-Sectional Studies

Comorbidity

Psychotic Disorders - psychology

Risk Factors

Psychotic Disorders - epidemiology

Violence - psychology

Schizophrenia - epidemiology

Mental Disorders - psychology

Crime - statistics & numerical data

Adolescent

Sex Factors

Denmark

Substance-Related Disorders - psychology

Patient Readmission - statistics & numerical data

Details

Title: Subtitle: Offending prior to first psychiatric contact: a population-based register study
Creators: H Stevens - National Centre for Register-Based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus C, Denmark. hs@ncrr.dk
E Agerbo
K Dean
M Nordentoft
P R Nielsen
P B Mortensen
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Psychological medicine, Vol.42(12), pp.2673-2684
Publisher: England
DOI: 10.1017/S0033291712000815
PMID: 22716954
ISSN: 0033-2917
eISSN: 1469-8978
Language: English
Date published: 12/2012
Academic Unit: Psychiatry; Stead Family Department of Pediatrics; Iowa Neuroscience Institute
Record Identifier: 9984071948402771

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