title: Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and criminal behavior: A Swedish population based study.
abstract: Both prenatal and circulating testosterone and other androgens have been suggested to influence the individual's propensity to commit crime, but empirical evidence is limited and inconsistent. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) are both hyperandrogenic conditions but with an important difference; whereas subjects with CAH are exposed to high concentrations of androgens in utero, women with PCOS are subjected to high androgens in adulthood. Comparing these groups can therefore yield important insights of androgenic effects on behavior. In the current study, information on medical diagnoses and convicted crimes were gathered from Swedish population-based registers. The associations between diagnoses of CAH or PCOS and any crime, violent crime or sex crime were estimated with conditional logistic regression. Results showed that CAH in women and men did not predict criminality, whereas an increased risk for any crime and violent crime was found in PCOS women. Our findings indicate that female hyperandrogenism in adulthood, but not prenatal hyperandrogenism, is associated with risk for criminal behavior. Further research into hyperandrogenic conditions holds opportunities to deepen our understanding of the etiology of crime and psychopathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: agnes.gotby@ki.se.
authors.forename: Agnes
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ohlsson Gotby
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna (L1:00), SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Pediatric Endocrinology, Astrid Lindgren Children Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, SE- 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nordenström
authors.affiliation: Departments of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska University Hospital, Solna (L1:00), SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Henrik
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Falhammar
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; Center for Molecular Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Pediatric Surgery, Astrid Lindgren Children Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Nordenskjöld
authors.affiliation: Department of Women's and Children's Health, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 76 Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-171 76, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Angelica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Linden Hirschberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Louise
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frisén
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden; Institute of Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg, Box 430, SE-405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mikael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Landén
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, PO Box 281, SE-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lichtenstein
mesh_terms: D000312:Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital / Q000523:psychology*; D000328:Adult; D000728:Androgens / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015331:Cohort Studies; D000066479:Criminal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017588:Hyperandrogenism / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011085:Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / Q000523:psychology*; D011599:Psychopathology; D013548:Sweden; D013739:Testosterone / Q000097:blood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000728:Androgens; D013739:Testosterone
keywords: Androgens; Delinquency; Hyperandrogenism; Prenatal androgens; Sex crime; Testosterone; Violent crime