Mental Disorders and Violence in a Total Birth Cohort
Top Cited Papers
- 1 October 2000
- journal article
- research article
- Published by American Medical Association (AMA) in Archives of General Psychiatry
- Vol. 57 (10), 979-86
- https://doi.org/10.1001/archpsyc.57.10.979
Abstract
We report on mental disorders and violence for a birth cohort of young adults, regardless of their contact with the health or justice systems. We studied 961 young adults who constituted 94% of a total-city birth cohort in New Zealand, April 1, 1972, through March 31, 1973. Past-year prevalence of mental disorders was measured using standardized DSM-III-R interviews. Past-year violence was measured using self-reports of criminal offending and a search of official conviction records. We also tested whether substance use before the violent offense, adolescent excessive perceptions of threat, and a juvenile history of conduct disorder accounted for the link between mental disorders and violence. Individuals meeting diagnostic criteria for alcohol dependence, marijuana dependence, and schizophrenia-spectrum disorder were 1.9 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.0-3.5), 3.8 (95% CI, 2.2-6.8), and 2.5 (95% CI, 1.1-5.7) times, respectively, more likely than control subjects to be violent. Persons with at least 1 of these 3 disorders constituted one fifth of the sample, but they accounted for half of the sample's violent crimes (10% of violence risk was uniquely attributable to schizophrenia-spectrum disorder). Among alcohol-dependent individuals, violence was best explained by substance use before the offense; among marijuana-dependent individuals, by a juvenile history of conduct disorder; and among individuals with schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, by excessive perceptions of threat and a history of conduct disorder. In the age group committing most violent incidents, individuals with mental disorders account for a considerable amount of violence in the community. Different mental disorders are linked to violence via different core explanations, suggesting multiple-targeted prevention strategies.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Criminal Victimization in the United StatesPublished by Informa UK Limited ,2018
- THE INTERACTION OF RACE, GENDER, AND AGE IN CRIMINAL SENTENCING: THE PUNISHMENT COST OF BEING YOUNG, BLACK, AND MALECriminology, 1998
- Violence by People Discharged From Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Facilities and by Others in the Same NeighborhoodsArchives of General Psychiatry, 1998
- Specific major mental disorders and criminality: a 26-year prospective study of the 1966 northern Finland birth cohortAmerican Journal of Psychiatry, 1997
- Substance misuse: a primary risk and a major problem of comorbidityInternational Review of Psychiatry, 1997
- Psychotic symptoms and disorders and the risk of violent behaviour in the communityCriminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 1996
- Critical Issues in the Evaluation of Comorbidity of Psychiatric DisordersThe British Journal of Psychiatry, 1996
- METHODOLOGICAL ISSUES IN PSYCHOPATHOLOGY RESEARCHAnnual Review of Psychology, 1996
- The Violent and Illegal Behavior of Mental Patients ReconsideredAmerican Sociological Review, 1992
- Acute and chronic effects of alcohol use on violence.Journal of Studies on Alcohol, 1988