Child Firesetters: A Clinical Investigation

Abstract

The demographic, symptomatic, psychosocial and diagnostic profile of 104 child firesetters was investigated in a controlled case note and item sheet study of all children referred to an Inner London clinic between 1973 and 1981. Firesetters form a subgroup of severe conduct disorders, and are distinguished by a younger peak age of 8, higher boy/girl ratio and more marked psychosocial disturbance. The paper focuses on the relationships between background factors and firesetting, and also examines the relevance of enuresis and situational antecedents as specific determinants.

The Pictorial Fire Stroop: A Measure of Processing Bias for Fire-Related Stimuli

“…Previous researchers (e.g., Forehand et al 1991;Jacobson 1985;Kolko et al 1985;Patterson 1982;Stickle and Blechman 2002) have argued that juvenile firesetters and other antisocial youths fall along the same continuum of disordered conduct, but with firesetters typically being at the upper extreme of this behavioral continuum. The present findings are consistent with this conceptualization, and extend it to include one specific aspect of cognitive functioning.…”

Epidemiologic and clinical updates on impulse control disorders: a critical review

“…There are very few community sample studies of firesetting, which is understandable since it is illegal and thus likely to be kept secret. The majority of epidemiological studies have focused on pyromania in childhood and adolescence and have reported the prevalence to be between 2.4% [40] and 3.5% [41, 42] (Table 1). In addition, several lines of evidence indicate that adolescent boys may be at higher risk for firesetting than adolescent girls [43, 44].…”

Aggressive Behavior and Fire-Setting in a 4-Year-Old Boy Associated with Ingestion of Ground Beef Contaminated with Bovine Thyroid Tissue: A Case Report and Review of Neuropsychiatrie Findings in Pediatric Thyrotoxicosis

“…Furthermore, the child was very young for a fire-setter. In a clinical investigation of 104 child fire-setters, Jacobsen (1985) found that less than 3% of children in their sample were younger than 5 years old. The presence of these atypical features provide indirect support for a relationship between the behavior change and the thyrotoxieosis factitia.…”