Citation

Kinoshita Y, Shimodera S, Nishida A, Kinoshita K, Watanabe N, Oshima N, Akechi T, Sasaki T, Inoue S, Furukawa TA, Okazaki Y. Schizophr. Res. 2011; 126(1-3): 245-251.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.schres.2010.08.028

PMID

20837390

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: The diagnosis of psychotic disorder is associated with a risk of violence. Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the general population may share an etiological background with psychotic disorders. The present study has evaluated the association between PLEs and violent behavior in adolescents. METHODS: PLEs and violent behavior were assessed using a self-report questionnaire administered to 18,104 Japanese adolescents. Potential confounding factors were also evaluated. RESULTS: After controlling for the effects of age, gender, GHQ-12 total score, victimization, and substance use, the existence of PLEs was significantly associated with both interpersonal violence (odds ratio (OR)=1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.23 to 1.51) and violence towards objects (OR=1.46, 95%CI: 1.33 to 1.61). The greater the number of such psychotic experiences, the higher the risk of violence. Particular types of PLEs ('spied-upon' and 'voice hearing') are significantly associated with interpersonal violence, while all of the types of PLEs assessed in this study were significantly associated with violence towards objects. CONCLUSION: PLEs may be a risk factor for violent behavior in adolescents. Violent acts by individuals with schizophrenia may not be a direct consequence of the disease itself, but may instead share an etiological background with such behavior in the general population.

Language: en