Abstract
Early family characteristics may influence the later development of severe
mental
disorders and criminality of a child. The association between an adverse family
environment during childhood and its later consequences in adulthood, however,
are still widely open. The aim of the present study was to analyse in a
longitudinal perspective, family risks of severe hospital-treated mental
disorders and criminal behaviour in the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort and to
develop a descriptive life span model of schizophrenia.
A large, general population birth cohort (N =11 017), the Northern Finland
1966
Birth Cohort was used as a study population. This database provides the
information of prospectively collected data on both biological and social aspects
of pregnancy, the characteristics of family, the mother, the father, and the
child. The information of psychiatric outcomes was gathered from the Finnish
Hospital Discharge Register (FHDR) and the data on registered criminal behaviour
of the cohort members come from computerized files maintained by the Ministry of
Justice.
Children born to multiparous mothers (GMP) i.e. those that had undergone at
least
six deliveries were more commonly treated in mental hospitals later in life (4.5%
vs. 3.4%; p=0.028) than children born to mothers that have fewer children. Of the
diagnostic groups, the risk of psychoses other than schizophrenia (OR 2.3; 95% CI
1.2-4.7), and depressive disorders (OR 2.2; 1.0-4.5) was elevated among adult
children of those mothers.
Birth order was associated with adult schizophrenia. The risk was elevated
among
male firstborns (ratio 1.5; 95% CI 1.0-2.2), but it was lower than expected among
male lastborns (ratio 0.7; 95% CI 0.5-0.9). The elevated risk was not
significantly associated with female schizophrenia patients. On the contrary, the
risk was lower than expected among females who were not first, not last or not
only children in the family (ratio 0.6; 95% CI 0.3-0.9).
Among males the risk for violent crimes later in life was elevated among
the
only children (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.1-3.0). If perinatal risk was additional
exposure, the risk increased up to 4-fold (OR 4.4; 95% CI 1.9-10.8). Combining
with maternal risks increased the risk up to 6-fold (OR 5.9; 95% CI 3.1-11.3) and
with paternal risk up to 8-fold (OR 8.4; 95% CI 3.9-18.1), respectively.
Among females the absence of the father during childhood until the age of 14 was
the strongest risk factor in predicting later criminality (OR 2.5; 95% CI
1.4-4.3). Further, in the families, where the father was present, maternal
smoking during pregnancy together with being born unwanted increased the
prevalence for criminal offending significantly up to 7.2%.
In conclusion, some characteristics of the early childhood family
environment were associated with mental disorders and criminality in adulthood and form part
of the developmental trajectory of these disorders. Early detection of such
children at risk is important in preventing mental disorders and criminality in
adulthood.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:oulo.fi/oai:oulu.fi:isbn951-42-6511-4 |
| Date | 02 October 2001 |
| Creators | Kemppainen, L. (Liisa) |
| Publisher | University of Oulu |
| Source Sets | University of Oulu |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, © University of Oulu, 2001 |
| Relation | info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/0355-3221, info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1796-2234 |
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