Are Mental Health, Family and Childhood Adversity, Substance Use and Conduct Problems Risk Factors for Offending in Auti
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Are Mental Health, Family and Childhood Adversity, Substance Use and Conduct Problems Risk Factors for Offending in Autism? Katy‑Louise Payne1 · K. L. Maras2 · A. J. Russell2 · M. J. Brosnan2
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Mental health difficulties, family and childhood adversity factors, substance use and conduct problems have all been linked to offending behaviour in the general population. However, no large-scale study with comparison groups has investigated these risk factors in relation to autistic offenders. The current research included 40 autistic offenders, 40 autistic non-offenders, 40 typically developed (TD) offenders and 39 TD non-offenders. Conduct problems risk factors differentiated autistic offenders from both non-offender groups (autistic and TD) and mental health risk factors differentiated autistic offenders from both TD groups (offenders and non-offenders). Further research is required to understand more about the role of both conduct problems risk factors in autistic offenders (e.g., age at onset, frequency of behaviours) and the mental health needs of autistic offenders. Keywords Autism spectrum disorder · Offending · Crime · Mental health · Family and childhood adversity · Substance use · Conduct problems · Risk factors
Introduction Autism spectrum disorder (ASD, hereafter autism) is a neurodevelopmental condition characterised by difficulties with reciprocal social interaction and communication as well as restricted, stereotyped and repetitive behaviour, activities and interests (American Psychiatric Association 2013; World Health Organization 2018). Autism affects approximately 1–3.9% of the general population (Baird et al. 2006; Brugha et al. 2011; Centre for Disease Control and Prevention 2018; May et al. 2017), but is estimated to be up to four and a half times more prevalent in forensic settings (e.g., prisons, secure hospitals) than in the general population (Fazio et al. 2012; Robinson et al. 2012). Within forensic settings, research investigating representative autistic1 samples (i.e., total population samples or random samples) and matched comparison groups of typically developed (TD) participants has reported that autistic offenders are more * Katy‑Louise Payne katy‑[email protected] 1
Faculty of Health, Education and Society, University of Northampton, Waterside Campus, Northampton NN1 5PH, UK
Department of Psychology, Centre for Applied Autism Research, University of Bath, Bath, UK
2
likely to engage in crimes against the person (e.g., sexual offences, assault, robbery; Cheely et al. 2012; Kumagami and Matsuura 2009) and less likely to engage in property crimes (e.g., burglary, arson and trespassing; Cheely et al. 2012; Kumagami and Matsuura 2009). No significant differences have been reported between autistic offenders and TD offenders on public order or drugs offences (Cheely et al. 2012; Kumagami and Matsuura 2009). The general TD offender literature identifies a number of risk factors for offending, including mental health difficu
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