Citation

Fridell M, Hesse M, Jaeger MM, Kühlhorn E. Addict. Behav. 2008; 33(6): 799-811.

Affiliation

Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.addbeh.2008.01.001

PMID

18258375

Abstract

Mixed findings have been made with regard to the long-term predictive validity of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) on criminal behaviour in samples of substance abusers. A longitudinal record-linkage study of a cohort of 1052 drug abusers admitted 1977-1995 was undertaken. Subjects were recruited from a detoxification and short-term rehabilitation unit in Lund, Sweden, and followed through criminal justice registers from their first treatment episode to death or to the year 2004. In a ML multinomial random effects regression, subjects diagnosed with antisocial personality disorders were 2.16 times more likely to be charged with theft only (p<0.001), and 2.44 times more likely to be charged committing multiple types of crime during an observation year (p<0.001). The findings of the current study support the predictive validity of the DSM-III-R diagnosis of ASPD. ASPD should be taken seriously in drug abusers, and be targeted in treatment to prevent crime in society.

Language: en