Psychotic-like experiences are associated with violent behavior in adolescents.
OBJECTIVE
The diagnosis of psychotic disorder is associated with a risk of violence. Psychotic-like experiences (PLEs) in the general population may share an etiological background with psychotic disorders. The present study has evaluated the association between PLEs and violent behavior in adolescents.


METHODS
PLEs and violent behavior were assessed using a self-report questionnaire administered to 18,104 Japanese adolescents. Potential confounding factors were also evaluated.


RESULTS
After controlling for the effects of age, gender, GHQ-12 total score, victimization, and substance use, the existence of PLEs was significantly associated with both interpersonal violence (odds ratio (OR)=1.36, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.23 to 1.51) and violence towards objects (OR=1.46, 95%CI: 1.33 to 1.61). The greater the number of such psychotic experiences, the higher the risk of violence. Particular types of PLEs ('spied-upon' and 'voice hearing') are significantly associated with interpersonal violence, while all of the types of PLEs assessed in this study were significantly associated with violence towards objects.


CONCLUSIONS
PLEs may be a risk factor for violent behavior in adolescents. Violent acts by individuals with schizophrenia may not be a direct consequence of the disease itself, but may instead share an etiological background with such behavior in the general population.
Kinoshita
Yoshihiro
Y
Department of Psychiatry and Cognitive-Behavioral Medicine, Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Nagoya, Japan.
Shimodera
Shinji
S
Nishida
Atsushi
A
Kinoshita
Kuni
K
Watanabe
Norio
N
Oshima
Norihito
N
Akechi
Tatsuo
T
Sasaki
Tsukasa
T
Inoue
Shimpei
S
Furukawa
Toshi A
TA
Okazaki
Yuji
Y
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012307:Risk Factors; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014754:Violence / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*