The development of antisocial behaviour and sudden violent death.

In order to detect possible relationships between antisocial behaviour and the incidence of "sudden violent death" in young people, information relating to mortality in antisocial Swedish adolescents has been traced and compiled. A register was drawn up covering those young persons (1,056; 832 boys and 224 girls; mean age 16 years) who were admitted to Swedish probationary schools during the period 1 January - 31 December 1967. Using the registers of immigration and emigration, and causes of death kept by SCB (Statistiska Centralbyran), mortality occurring between 1 January 1967 - 31 December 1985 was tabulated. One hundred and ten boys (13%) and 22 girls (10%) had died. The deaths had occurred at a rate of approximately seven new deaths per observation year, the youngest being still in their teens when they died. For comparison, the criteria set up by insurance companies for life insurance premiums are based on a death expectancy for healthy Swedish boys and girls in the age groups corresponding to the subjects under observation of 1.2-3.1% for boys and 1.1-2.6% for girls. Eighty-eight percent of the dead boys and 77% of the dead girls had died "sudden violent deaths" - accidents, suicides, death from uncertain causes, murder/manslaughter, or alcohol/drug abuse. For both sexes, death from uncertain causes and suicides were the most frequent single causes of death. Death as a direct result of alcohol/drug abuse occurred only in boys. The results give support to the assumption that a link exists between childhood environment, the development of antisocial behaviour/mental insufficiency and a "sudden violent death" at an early age.(AUTHOR ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS) VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this Swedish longitudinal study by Rydelius was to provide an analysis of the relationship between anti-social behavior and sudden violent death in youth. METHODOLOGY: By using the records of Swedish probationary schools between January 1-December 31, 1967, a sample of 1069 subjects (841 boys and 228 girls) was compiled. Thirteen of this sample were not traceable in 1982 and were left out of the sample. The mortality records of the 1056 remaining subjects (832 boys and 224 girls), with a median age of 16 years in 1967, were used in the study. From insurance estimates, the approximate death expectancy rate was computed for healthy Swedish men (if over 14 years, have a death expectancy of 1.2% before 28 years, 3.1% before 40 years) and women (if over 14 years, have a death expectancy of 1.1% before 28 years, 2.6% before 40 years). Percentages were utilized to analyze the data. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Twelve percent (132) of the anti-social youth in the sample died during the observational period: 13% of the boys and 10% of the girls. Four girls and eleven boys died while still teenagers; 57 boys and 7 girls died between 30 and 39 years. Eighty-eight percent of these deaths were caused by accidents, suicides, murder/manslaughter, uncertain causes, or alcohol/drug abuse. Sixty-one percent were caused by suicides, uncertain causes, murder/manslaughter, and abuse. Ten of the male subjects' deaths were caused directly by drugs/alcohol with 47 of the 110 of the male deaths having alcohol/drugs involved in some form. None of the female subjects' deaths were directly the result of alcohol/drugs; however 7 of these female cases involved drugs/alcohol in some form. This study concluded that there was evidence that antisocial youth were more likely than "healthy" youth to be the victims of sudden violent deaths. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: The author stressed that knowledge of the risk factors involved in sudden violent deaths of youth would be beneficial for preventing them in the future. The author also suggested that more longitudinal studies are needed. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) N1 - Call Number: F-456, AB-456 KW - Countries Other Than USA KW - Sweden KW - Longitudinal Studies KW - Death Rates KW - Death Causes KW - Juvenile Death KW - Adult Death KW - Juvenile Behavior KW - Juvenile Antisocial Behavior KW - Behavior Effects KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Death Rates KW - Juvenile Homicide KW - Adult Homicide KW - Homicide Victim KW - Adult Victim KW - Juvenile Victim KW - Adult Suicide KW - Juvenile Suicide KW - Suicide Causes KW - Risk Factors KW - Violence Causes KW - Alcohol Use Effects KW - Alcohol Related Death KW - Drug Use Effects KW - Drug Related Death KW - Adult Substance Use KW - Juvenile Substance Use KW - Substance Use Effects KW - Juvenile Male KW - Juvenile Female KW - Adult Male KW - Adult Female KW - Male Victim KW - Female Victim Language: en