Citation

Eggink E, de Waal MM, Goudriaan AE. Psychiatry Res. 2019; 273: 355-362.

Affiliation

Amsterdam UMC, University of Amsterdam, Department of Psychiatry, Amsterdam Institute for Addiction Research, Amsterdam, the Netherlands; Department of Research, Arkin Mental Health Care, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.psychres.2019.01.057

PMID

30682557

Abstract

Dual diagnosis patients perpetrate crime more often than healthy individuals. Crime perpetration has major mental health consequences for the victim. Knowledge of factors related to perpetration is needed for the development of prevention programs. However, in dual diagnosis patients, very little is known about factors explaining criminal behavior. The current study investigated cross-sectional associations between demographic and clinical factors and perpetration of three crime types (violence, threat, and property crime) in 243 treatment-seeking dual diagnosis patients. In our sample, perpetration of violence was independently associated with younger age, severity of alcohol use problems, lifetime trauma exposure, and higher manic symptom scores. Expression of threat was independently associated with severity of alcohol use problems and higher manic symptom scores. Perpetration of property crime was independently associated with severity of alcohol and drug use problems. Remarkably, gender was not associated with any type of perpetration. These findings indicate that criminal offending is a significant problem among dual diagnosis patients and are a first step towards understanding the complex causal networks that lead to criminal perpetration. Future longitudinal research should investigate additional risk factors and establish causality to support the development of treatment programs to prevent criminal offending by dual diagnosis patients.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Co-occurring disorders; Crime perpetration; Manic symptoms; Risk factors; Severe mental illness; Substance use disorder; Victimization