Psychiatric disorders and comorbidity in a Spanish sample of prisoners at the end of their sentence: Prevalence rates and associations with criminal history

Mireia Pagerols; Sergi Valero; Lourdes Dueñas; Rosa Bosch; Miquel Casas

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1039099

Psychiatric disorders and comorbidity in a Spanish sample of prisoners at the end of their sentence: Prevalence rates and associations with criminal history

Front Psychol. 2023 Jan 12:13:1039099. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1039099. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mireia Pagerols^{1

2}, Sergi Valero^{3

4}, Lourdes Dueñas⁵, Rosa Bosch^{1

6}, Miquel Casas^{1

7}

Affiliations

¹ Programa MIND Escoles, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain.
² Unitat de Farmacologia, Facultat de Medicina i Ciències de la Salut, Departament de Fonaments Clínics, Universitat de Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain.
³ Ace Alzheimer Center Barcelona, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
⁴ Networking Research Center on Neurodegenerative Diseases (CIBERNED), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
⁵ Programa Reincorpora "la Caixa", Departament de Justícia, Centre d'Iniciatives per a la Reinserció (CIRE), Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain.
⁶ CIBER de Salud Mental (CIBERSAM), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain.
⁷ Departament de Psiquiatria i Medicina Legal, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), Bellaterra, Spain.

Abstract

Introduction: This study examined, for the first time, the prevalence of mental disorders and comorbidities among inmates who were about to be released, and their association with criminal history.

Methods: A Spanish sample of 140 prisoners at the end of their sentence was recruited from an occupational program. Psychiatric disorders were determined according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders criteria. Bivariate analyses followed by multivariate regression models were conducted to identify significant variables for repeat incarceration and violent offending.

Results: The lifetime prevalence of Axis I disorders was 81.4%, with substance use disorders (SUD) and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) being the most common diagnoses (51.4 and 31.4%, respectively). The current prevalence of Axis I disorders was 59.0%, including learning disorders (38.6%), ADHD (16.4%), and SUD (5.71%) among the most frequent syndromes. Thirty-six (26.5%) participants met criteria for a current Axis II disorder, which commonly was an antisocial personality disorder (12.5%). The majority of the sample (60.8%) suffered from two or more comorbid disorders during their lifetime, although the current prevalence fell to 23.3%. Childhood ADHD increased the number of imprisonments, while inmates convicted of a violent crime were more likely to present a learning disorder. Having a lifetime diagnosis of SUD or multiple psychiatric disorders appeared to be associated with both repeat incarceration and violent offending.

Conclusion: Given the high rate of mental disorders still present among subjects completing prison sentences and the challenges they may encounter to benefit from vocational programs, our results suggest that appropriate psychiatric care should be provided during imprisonment and after release to facilitate their community reintegration.

Keywords: attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD); community reintegration; learning disorders (LD); repeat incarceration; substance use disorders (SUD); violent offending.

Grants and funding

This work was funded by Fundació “la Caixa” and Vall d’Hebron Institut de Recerca (VHIR). The funders were not involved in the study design, collection, analysis, interpretation of data, the writing of this article or the decision to submit it for publication.