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Impact of substance use and other risk factor exposures on conviction rates by people with a psychotic illness and other mental disorders

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Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

To examine the impact of substance use and other risk factors on conviction rates in people with a psychotic illness (PI) and other mental disorders (OMD) compared to those with no mental illness (NMI).

Methods

This research is part of a longitudinal record-linked whole-population study of 467,945 children born in Western Australia (WA) between 1980 and 2001. This cohort was identified through linkages between the WA psychiatric case register, WA corrective services data and other state-wide registers. We assessed 184,147 individuals born during 1983–1991 to explore the impact of exposure to a variety of risk factors on conviction rates.

Results

People with PI and OMD had higher conviction rates than those with NMI, with unadjusted incidence rate ratios (IRR) of 3.98 (95% CI 3.67–4.32) for PI and 3.18 (95% CI 3.03–3.34) for OMD. Adjusting for substance use reduced the rates by 60% in PI and 30% in OMD: IRRs 1.59 (95% CI 1.45–1.74) and 2.24 (2.12–2.37), respectively. Minimal change was seen when adjusting for other potential risk factors (including socio-demographics, victimisation and parental offending), with adjusted IRRs 1.58 (95% CI 1.43–1.74) for PI and 1.90 (95% CI 1.80–2.02) for OMD.

Conclusions

Our analysis shows people with a mental illness have higher rates of conviction than those with NMI. Substance use has a major impact on this rate. Results suggest the need for a greater investment in programs addressing the issue of comorbid substance use with a view to reduce the rate of convictions in this population.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Data Linkage Branch of the WA Department of Health for linkage, extraction and client support services aspects of data provision. We also thank the custodians of the WA Department of Health Hospital Morbidity and Mental Health Data Collections, the WA Midwives Notification System, the WA Department of Corrective Services, WA Department of Communities and the WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages for the provision of data. The paper cannot be considered as either endorsed by the Department of Corrective Services or as an expression of its policies or views. Any errors of omission or commission are the responsibility of the researchers.

Funding

This study was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropsychiatric Epidemiology Research Unit, School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, M571, Level 3, Medical Research Foundation Building, Rear 50 Murray Street, Perth, WA, 6000, Australia

    Giulietta M. Valuri, Taryn L. Ambrosi & Vera A. Morgan

  2. School of Population and Global Health, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

    Frank Morgan

  3. Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, Division of Psychiatry, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia

    Assen Jablensky & Vera A. Morgan

Authors
  1. Giulietta M. Valuri
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  2. Frank Morgan
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  3. Assen Jablensky
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  4. Taryn L. Ambrosi
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  5. Vera A. Morgan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giulietta M. Valuri.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

This study has been approved by the Department of Health WA Human Research Ethics Committee and has therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Valuri, G.M., Morgan, F., Jablensky, A. et al. Impact of substance use and other risk factor exposures on conviction rates by people with a psychotic illness and other mental disorders. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 55, 517–525 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01751-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-019-01751-5

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