Adolescence-limited versus life-course-persistent criminal behaviour in adolescent psychiatric inpatients |
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Authors: | E Kjelsberg |
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Institution: | (1) Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry University of Oslo PO Box 26, Vinderen N-0319 Oslo, Norway, NO |
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Abstract: | A nation-wide sample of 1072 Norwegian adolescent psychiatric inpatients were followed up 15–33 (mean 23.8) years after hospitalisation,
by record linkage to the National Register of Criminality. Defining criminal behaviour as entry into the criminal registry,
481 patients (45%) had an adolescent criminal debut, entering the registry before the age of 21. Of these, 130 (27%) had no
criminal record after the age of 21 and were consequently considered as adolescence-limited criminal offenders, as opposed
to the remaining 351 (73%) individuals who continued their criminal behaviour beyond the age of 21 and were considered as
life-course-persistent criminal offenders. On the basis of hospital records, all patients were rediagnosed according to DSM-IV
and scored on factors hypothesised to have predictive power as to persistence of criminal behaviour. We found that 79.6% of
the male, and 58.8% of the female adolescent delinquents went on to life-course-persistent criminality. In females, intravenous
use of illegal drugs, and being discharged from the hospital elsewhere than to the family home, were strong and independent
predictors of life-course-persistent criminal behaviour. In males, the following were significant and independent predictors
of life-course-persistent criminality: a high number of conduct disorder criteria fulfilled, comorbidity of psychoactive substance
use disorder, and having attended correctional school.
Accepted: 8 March 1999 |
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Keywords: | Adolescent psychiatry – delinquency – antisocial behaviour – follow-up |
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