Depression and violence: a Swedish population study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Depression increases the risk of a range of adverse outcomes including suicide, premature mortality, and self-harm, but associations with violent crime remain uncertain. We aimed to determine the risks of violent crime in patients with depression and to investigate the association between depressive symptoms and violent crime in a cohort of twins.

Methods

We conducted two studies. The first was a total population study in Sweden of patients with outpatient diagnoses of depressive disorders (n=47,158) between 2001 and 2009 and no lifetime inpatient episodes. Patients were age and sex matched to general population controls (n=898,454) and risk of violent crime was calculated. Additionally, we compared the odds of violent crime in unaffected half-siblings (n=15,534)

SUBMITTER: Fazel S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4520382 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature