@article{ref1,
title="Fire-setting performed in adolescence or early adulthood predicts schizophrenia: a register-based follow-up study of pre-trial offenders",
journal="Nordic journal of psychiatry",
year="2016",
author="Thomson, Annika and Tiihonen, Jari and Miettunen, Jouko and Virkkunen, Matti and Lindberg, Nina",
volume="71",
number="2",
pages="96-101",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Aggressive and disruptive behaviours often precede the onset of serious mental illnesses. Fire-setting is a type of crime that is associated with psychotic disorders. <br><br>AIM: The aim of this prospective follow-up study was to investigate if fire-setting performed in adolescence or early adulthood was associated with future diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. <br><br>METHODS: The consecutive sample consisted of 111 Finnish 15-25-year old males with fire-setting crimes, decreed to a pre-trial forensic psychiatric examination in 1973-1998, and showing no past nor current psychosis at the time of examination. For each firesetter, four age-, gender-, and place of birth-matched controls were randomly selected from the Central Population Register. The subjects were followed until the death of the individual, until they moved abroad, or until the end of 2012. <br><br>RESULTS: Fourteen firesetters (12.6%) and five controls (1.1%) were diagnosed with either schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder later in life, corresponding to a hazard ratio of 12.5. The delay between the fire-setting offense and the future diagnosis was on average nearly 10 years. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Young male offenders undergoing a forensic psychiatric examination because of fire-setting crimes had a significant propensity for schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder. Accurate assessments should be made both during imprisonment and later in life to detect possible psychotic signs in these individuals.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0803-9488",
doi="10.1080/08039488.2016.1233997",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/08039488.2016.1233997"
}