title: [Symptoms from the spectrum of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in sexual delinquents].
abstract: The implications of ADHD for sexual delinquent behavior were investigated in a sample of 127 male sexual delinquents for whom social, forensic and psychiatric data were collected. For the retrospective evaluation of ADHD-symptoms, we used the Wender Utah Rating Scale (WURS, 61-item version). We also used the Eysenck Impulsiveness Questionnaire for the assessment of impulsivity. The prevalence of ADHD within the group of sexual delinquents was 27.6 % with a persistence rate of 14.2 % at a cut-off point of 90 in the WURS. The prevalence of ADHD within the control group was 7.8 % with a persistence rate of 3.0 %. The prevalence within the group of sexual delinquents dropped to 15.7 % for childhood ADHD-symptoms and 11.0 % for partial ADHD persistence in adulthood using a cut-off score of 100. In the control group the rates were 4.8 % and 2.4 % respectively. Based on ICD-10 criteria, 35.4 % of the sexual delinquents had no psychiatric disorder. We found personality disorders of the antisocial type (22.1 % of the sample) and paraphilias in 25.2 %. Approximately, half of the delinquents with paraphilia met the criteria of pedophilia. We also found schizophrenia, organic psychiatric disorders and mental retardations in less than 5 %. The criminal careers of the sexual delinquent group with a history of childhood ADHD symptoms started 10 years earlier. We also found a significant correlation between previous convictions and the retrospective diagnosis of ADHD symptoms. This was more prominent when a previous sexual offence could be found in their criminal record. These results illustrate the hypothesis, that in addition to paraphilias the presence of ADHD-symptoms might be an important vulnerability factor for sexual delinquency, esp. when there is a persistence into adulthood. This demonstrates the need for an early therapeutical intervention, since 44.1 % of the sample had previously undergone psychiatric treatment.
authors.affiliation: Abteilung für Forensische Psychiatrie der Universität Würzburg. detlev.blocher@mail.uni-wuerzburg.de
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Blocher
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Henkel
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Retz
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Retz-Junginger
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Thome
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rösler
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001289:Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*
vernacular_title: Symptome aus dem Spektrum des hyperkinetischen Syndroms bei Sexualdelinquenten.