Citation

Sergentanis TN, Sakelliadis EI, Vlachodimitropoulos D, Goutas N, Sergentanis IN, Spiliopoulou CA, Papadodima SA. Psychiatry Res. 2014; 220(3): 1064-1070.

Affiliation

Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, Medical School, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, M. Asias 75, Goudi, 115 27 Athens, Greece. Electronic address: stpapd@gmail.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2014.10.019

PMID

25468626

Abstract

This study attempts to assess childhood maltreatment in prison through a hierarchical approach. The hierarchical approach principally aims to disentangle the independent effects of childhood maltreatment upon psychiatric morbidity/personality traits, if any, from the burden that the adverse family conditions have already imposed to the mental health of the maltreated individual-prisoner. To this direction, a conceptual framework with five hierarchical levels was constructed, namely: immutable demographic factors; family conditions; childhood maltreatment (physical abuse, neglect and sexual abuse); personality traits, habits and psychiatric morbidity; prison-related variables. A self-administered, anonymous set (battery) of questionnaires was administered to 173 male prisoners in the Chalkida prison, Greece; 26% of prisoners disclosed childhood maltreatment. Psychiatric condition in the family, parental alcoholism and parental divorce correlated with childhood maltreatment. After adjustment for immutable demographic factors and family conditions, childhood maltreatment was associated with aggression (both in terms of Lifetime History of Aggression and Buss-Perry Aggression Questionnaire scores), illicit substance use, personal history of psychiatric condition, current smoking, impulsivity and alcohol abuse. In conclusion, childhood maltreatment represents a pivotal, determining factor in the life course of male prisoners. Delinquents seem to suffer from long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment in terms of numerous mental health aspects.

Language: en