Mental disorders and violence in a total birth cohort: results from the Dunedin Study

Arseneault, L., Moffitt, T. E., Caspi, A., Taylor, Pamela Jane ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3998-6095 and Silva, P. A. 2000. Mental disorders and violence in a total birth cohort: results from the Dunedin Study. Archives of General Psychiatry 57 (10) , pp. 979-986. 10.1001/archpsyc.57.10.979

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Abstract

BACKGROUND: We report on mental disorders and violence for a birth cohort of young adults, regardless of their contact with the health or justice systems. METHODS: 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. RESULTS: 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. CONCLUSIONS: 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.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Medicine Research Institutes & Centres > MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics (CNGG)
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry
Publisher:	JAMA
ISSN:	0003-990X
Last Modified:	31 Oct 2022 09:26
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/81040

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