Family psychosocial characteristics influencing criminal behaviour and mortality - possible mediating factors: a longitudinal study of male and female subjects in the Stockholm Birth Cohort

BMC Public Health

Research Article

Ylva Almquist¹  Britt af Klinteberg²  Per-Anders Rydelius³  Ulla Beijer⁴ 

[1] Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University/Karolinska Institutet, Sveavägen 160, 5th floor, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden;Centre for Health Equity Studies, Stockholm University/Karolinska Institutet, Sveavägen 160, 5th floor, SE-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Psychology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;Department of Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden;

关键词: Violent Crime;    Criminal Behaviour;    Mental Problem;    Cohort Member;    Adverse Childhood Experience;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2458-11-756

 received in 2010-12-02, accepted in 2011-10-02,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundFamily psychosocial characteristics in childhood have been associated with children's development into criminal behaviour and mortality. This study explored these possible relationships and examined alcohol and/or drug use and mental problems as possible mediating factors, highlighting gender-specific patterns.MethodsData from Swedish subjects born in 1953 (n = 14,294) from the Stockholm Birth Cohort study were examined. Several indicators of adverse family factors and individual problems were included in the present study. The information was derived from various data sources, covering different periods. Gender-specific associations with incidence of criminality (1966-1980) and mortality (1981-2009) were analysed using logistic regression. Furthermore, the population attributable fraction (PAF) was calculated for all variables in the fully adjusted models which were positively related to the outcome.ResultsOverall incidence of criminality and mortality was (m/f 32.3/6.6) and (m/f 6.1/3.5), respectively. The results showed that all aspects of family psychosocial and individual problems studied were associated with criminality for both genders. Among males, individual problems seemed to partly mediate these relations, but the associations remained statistically significant. Interestingly, the PAF analysis revealed a reduction in criminality of 17.5% when individual problems with alcohol and/or drug use were considered. Among females, a significant impact of alcohol and/or drug use on the association between family psychosocial characteristics and subsequent criminality was obtained. Inclusion of father's occupational class only somewhat reduced the estimates for the genders. Concerning male mortality, father's alcohol abuse was significantly related to an increased risk. When individual criminality was accounted for, the association was substantially reduced but remained statistically significant. Among females, when adjusting for family psychosocial factors, only the association between parents' mental problems and females' mortality was significant. None of the individual problem variables managed to explain this association.ConclusionsFamily psychosocial characteristics were associated with both subsequent criminal behaviour and mortality. These connections were partly explained by individual risk factors, especially by alcohol and/or drug use. The practical implications of the findings point to the importance of addressing the individual's alcohol and/or drug use in reducing criminal behaviour, which would also lower the mortality rates.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Klinteberg et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011