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Influence of history of head trauma and epilepsy on delinquents in a juvenile classification home.

Miura H, Fujiki M, Shibata A, Ishikawa K

Nagoya Juvenile Classification Home, Nagoya, Aichi, Japan.

Juvenile delinquents often show poor impulse control and cognitive abnormalities, which may be related to disturbances in brain development due to head trauma and/or epilepsy. The aim of the present study was to examine the influence of head trauma and/or epilepsy on delinquent behavior. We examined 1,336 juvenile delinquents (1,151 males and 185 females) who had been admitted to the Nagoya Juvenile Classification Home, Aichi, Japan. Among them, 52 subjects with a history of epilepsy, convulsion or loss of consciousness, head injury requiring neurological assessment and/or treatment, or neurosurgical operation (head trauma/epilepsy group), were examined by electroencephalography and compared to subjects without these histories (control group) with respect to types of crime, history of amphetamine use, psychiatric treatment, child abuse, and family history. Among the 52 subjects, 43 (82.7%) showed abnormal findings. The head trauma/epilepsy group had significantly higher rates of psychiatric treatment (P<0.0001, OR=16.852, 95% CI=8.068-35.199) and family history of drug abuse (P<0.05, OR=2.303, 95% CI=1.003-5.290). Furthermore, the percentage of members who were sent to juvenile training school by the family court was significantly higher in the head trauma/epilepsy group (72.5%) than in the control group (38.9%, P<0.0001). The juvenile delinquents who had a history of head trauma and/or epilepsy showed a high prevalence of electroencephalograph abnormality, and higher rates of psychiatric treatment and family history of drug abuse, and were more likely to be sent to juvenile training school by the family court.

Published 10 January 2006 in Psychiatry Clin Neurosci, 59(6): 661-5.
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