Kim Eun Young, Park Jiung, Kim Bongseog
Department of Psychiatry, Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital, Dongil-ro 1342, Nowon-gu, Seoul, 139-707, Republic of Korea.
BMC Psychiatry. 2016 Aug 19;16:294. doi: 10.1186/s12888-016-1001-8.
Childhood maltreatment is strongly associated with delinquency and the repeated crime. Specific types of childhood maltreatment have been found to have differential effects on recidivism in juvenile offenders, but studies of adult probationers have not been performed. This study investigated the relationship between having a history of childhood maltreatment and mental-health problems and the independent contribution of specific types of maltreatment and mental-health problems to the criminal recidivism of adult probationers.
This study included 183 adult probationers (107 males and 76 females) with a mean age of 40.1 (SD = 11.8) years. Type of childhood maltreatment was assessed using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which consists of five subscales (emotional neglect and abuse, physical neglect and abuse, and sexual abuse). Additionally, we used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview to assess participants for the presence of psychiatric disorders and assessed levels of emotional dysregulation and resilience. Hierarchical logistic regression analysis was performed to determine whether the types of childhood maltreatment were independently associated with repeated crime, after adjusting for demographic factors and mental-health problems.
The overall prevalence of mental illness in the childhood maltreatment group was significantly higher than in the no childhood maltreatment group (56.1 % vs. 38.2 %, p = 0.017). The maltreated group had a higher rate of major depressive disorder, a higher level of emotional dysregulation, and a lower level of resilience than the group that was not maltreated. Recidivism was uniquely associated with physical neglect (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR], 2.862; 95 % Confidence Interval [95 % CI], 1.213-6.752) and the presence of at least one psychiatric disorder (AOR, 3.791; 95 % CI, 1.703-8.443).
Childhood maltreatment deserves further attention in adult probationers because it is potentially associated with higher rates of psychiatric morbidity and recidivism. In particular, physical neglect during childhood plays a critical role in repeated crime, independent of mental-health problems for high-risk adults involved with the criminal justice system. Rigorous evaluations of the relevance of childhood maltreatment in the assessment and treatment of criminal offenders are needed.
童年期受虐与犯罪及再次犯罪密切相关。已发现特定类型的童年期受虐对少年犯的再犯有不同影响，但尚未对成年缓刑犯进行研究。本研究调查了童年期受虐史与心理健康问题之间的关系，以及特定类型的受虐和心理健康问题对成年缓刑犯刑事再犯的独立影响。
本研究纳入了183名成年缓刑犯（107名男性和76名女性），平均年龄为40.1岁（标准差=11.8）。使用儿童创伤问卷评估童年期受虐类型，该问卷由五个分量表组成（情感忽视与虐待、身体忽视与虐待、性虐待）。此外，我们使用迷你国际神经精神病学访谈评估参与者是否存在精神障碍，并评估情绪失调和心理韧性水平。在调整人口统计学因素和心理健康问题后，进行分层逻辑回归分析，以确定童年期受虐类型是否与再次犯罪独立相关。
童年期受虐组的精神疾病总体患病率显著高于无童年期受虐组（56.1%对38.2%，p=0.017）。受虐组的重度抑郁症发病率更高，情绪失调水平更高，心理韧性水平低于未受虐组。再次犯罪与身体忽视（调整后的优势比[AOR]，2.862；95%置信区间[95%CI]，1.213 - 6.752）和至少一种精神障碍的存在（AOR，3.791；95%CI，1.703 - 8.443）独特相关。
童年期受虐在成年缓刑犯中值得进一步关注，因为它可能与更高的精神疾病发病率和再犯率相关。特别是，童年期的身体忽视在再次犯罪中起关键作用，独立于涉及刑事司法系统的高危成年人的心理健康问题。需要对童年期受虐在刑事罪犯评估和治疗中的相关性进行严格评估。
