Prevalence of criminal convictions in Norwegian adult ADHD outpatients and associations with ADHD symptom severity and emotional dysregulation

Abstract

Objectives Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) often co-occurs with antisocial behaviour. Several studies have shown high rates of ADHD among prisoners. However, the prevalence of crime among individuals with ADHD is less known. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of lifetime criminal conviction (CC) in a clinical sample of adults with ADHD, and the associations with the severity of ADHD and emotional dysregulation (ED). Methods Patients were admitted to a private psychiatric outpatient clinic in Oslo between 2014 and 2018. Of the 656 patients diagnosed with ADHD, 629 (95.9%) agreed to participate in the study. CC was determined based on self-reporting of the lifetime history of criminal behaviour. ADHD was diagnosed according to the DSM-5 criteria, and ADHD severity was measured using the Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS). ED was assessed by the eight-item version of Barkley’s Current Behaviour Scale - Self-Report (CBS-SR). Results The prevalence of self-reported CC in this clinical sample was 11.7% among women and 24.5% among men. CC was associated with hyperactive-impulsive severity (p < 0.001) and ED (p = 0.006). Conclusions The prevalence of self-reported lifetime criminal conviction was high for both genders. CC was associated with symptom severity of hyperactivity-impulsivity and emotional dysregulation. The findings suggest the need for greater research efforts on the avoidance of criminal activity in people with ADHD and targeted intervention for ADHD treatment and CC prevention.

Evidence of emotion dysregulation as a core symptom of adult ADHD: A systematic review

“…When the criteria were not clear, the inclusion or exclusion of the article was decided among all three authors. S1 Table shows the bibliometric properties of the included articles [13,[51][52][53][54][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74], which are marked with � in the references section.…”

“…Some studies found that emotion dysregulation was significantly associated with impulsivity [13], executive function deficits and functional impairment [66]; as well as total Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale Symptom Checklist (ASRSv1.1) score with non-adaptative cognitive strategies [63]. High scores of emotion dysregulation were also associated with substance use disorder [64], criminal conviction [67], BPD comorbidity [62,63] and sluggish cognitive tempo comorbidity [66], as well as recall of parental ADHD symptoms [65]. However, no significant differences were found between ADHD emotional dysregulation scores and other disorders such as autism spectrum disorder [59].…”

Mental Disorders and Crime: An Introduction to Clinical Criminology

“…Several studies have estimated that the prevalence of ADHD among male inmates ranges from 15% to 50%, and as high as 40% among female inmates. Legal studies on offences conducted in Great Britain show that 14% are long-term, which also poses a greater risk of repeated crime (Anker et al, 2021). Recidivism among persons with mental health problems and sane criminals is also similar.…”

Features of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and antisocial behaviour in a general population‐based sample of adults

“…Several studies have examined associations between the severity of ADHD features and delinquent behaviours, but have usually focused on adolescents and young adults, offenders or psychiatric outpatients (Anker et al., 2021; Barkley et al., 2004; González et al., 2016; Murray et al., 2021). A few studies test even narrower relationships, for example, focusing on circumscribed types of criminal behaviour, such as cyber deviance (Panagiotidi & Overton, 2021).…”