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Teens who self-harm more likely to commit violent crime

Adolescents who self-harmed were three times more likely to commit violent crime than those who did not, according to study findings.

Identifying factors that increase the risk for violent crime among people who self-harm could help improve prevention strategies and interventions that decrease interpersonal violence, according to Leah S. Richmond-Rakerd, PhD, from the department of psychology and neuroscience, Duke University, and colleagues.

“However, studies have primarily examined risk factors for self-harm among violent offenders after they become clients of the criminal justice system,” they wrote. “To appropriately target assessments and treatments, clinicians need information to identify who among self-harming adolescents is at greatest risk for violent offending.”

Researchers examined data from a nationally representative cohort of 2,232 British twins followed for their first 20 years of life to characterize the risk factors that distinguish those who engage in both self-harm and violent crime (“dual harmers”) from those who only self-harm. Analysis was conducted using four design features, which assessed:

• self-harm in adolescence via interview at age 18 years;
• violent offending via online questionnaire at age 18 years and police records through age 22 years;
• risk factors (low self-control, maltreatment by an adult, childhood self-harm behavior and family psychiatric history) from ages 5 to 12 years; and
• mental health, victimization, personality functioning and support service use at age 18 years.

Though self-harm was more prevalent among girls and violent crime was more prevalent among boys, the connection between self-harm and violent offending was similar, according to the results. The investigators found that self-harm increased the likelihood of violent crime more than threefold (OR = 3.5; 95% CI, 2.61-4.7) even after adjusting for familial risk factors.

Participants with low childhood self-control and those who experienced maltreatment were at increased risk for committing dual vs. self-only harm (self-control: OR = 1.82; 95% CI, 1.35–2.45; maltreatment: OR = 2.46; 95% CI, 1.1–5.51). Furthermore, dual harmers experienced victimization in childhood and had lower childhood IQ than self-only harmers, the findings showed.

Although dual harmers had higher rates of concurrent psychotic symptoms and substance dependence than self-only harmers, they were not more likely to use mental health services, Richmond-Rakerd and colleagues found.

“There is a pressing demand for improvements in adolescent mental health services and psychological treatment research. Our analysis responds to this demand by identifying several opportunities for early-years prevention and intervention science,” the researchers wrote.

“Connecting vulnerable adolescents with delinquency-reduction programs that target self-control, prevention of maltreatment and victimization, and improvement in children’s self-regulation abilities could significantly reduce the health and social burdens attributable to internalized and externalized violence.” – by Savannah Demko

Disclosure: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.