Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-15T11:14:38.621Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Association between intelligence quotient and violence perpetration in the English general population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2018

Louis Jacob ,
Josep Maria Haro  and
Ai Koyanagi
Louis Jacob*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris 5, Paris 75006, France
Josep Maria Haro
Affiliation:
Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Dr Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08830, Spain Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Monforte de Lemos 3-5 Pabellón 11, Madrid 28029, Spain
Ai Koyanagi
Affiliation:
Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Dr Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08830, Spain Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Monforte de Lemos 3-5 Pabellón 11, Madrid 28029, Spain
*
Author for correspondence: Louis Jacob, E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background

Data on the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and violence perpetration are scarce and nationally representative data from the UK adult population is lacking. Therefore, our goal was to examine the relationship between IQ and violence perpetration using nationally representative community-based data from the UK.

Methods

We analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. IQ was estimated using the National Adult Reading Test (NART). Violence perpetration referred to being in a physical fight or having deliberately hit anyone in the past 5 years. We conducted logistic regression analysis to assess the association between IQ (exposure variable) and violence perpetration (outcome variable).

Results

There were 6872 participants aged ⩾16 years included in this study. The prevalence of violence perpetration decreased linearly with increasing IQ [16.3% (IQ 70–79) v. 2.9% (IQ 120–129)]. After adjusting for demographic and behavioral factors, childhood adversity, and psychiatric morbidity, compared with those with IQ 120–129, IQ scores of 110–119, 100–109, 90–99, 80–89, and 70–79 were associated with 1.07 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63–1.84], 1.90 (95% CI 1.12–3.22), 1.80 (95% CI 1.05–3.13), 2.36 (95% CI 1.32–4.22), and 2.25 (95% CI 1.26–4.01) times higher odds for violence perpetration, respectively.

Conclusions

Lower IQ was associated with violence perpetration in the UK general population. Further studies are warranted to assess how low IQ can lead to violence perpetration, and whether interventions are possible for this high-risk group.

Keywords

Community-based studyintelligence quotientUKviolence perpetration
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 49 , Issue 8 , June 2019 , pp. 1316 - 1323
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Afifi, TO, MacMillan, H, Cox, BJ, Asmundson, GJG, Stein, MB and Sareen, J (2009) Mental health correlates of intimate partner violence in marital relationships in a nationally representative sample of males and females. Journal of Interpersonal Violence 24, 1398–1417.Google Scholar
Ali, A, Ambler, G, Strydom, A, Rai, D, Cooper, C, McManus, S, Weich, S, Meltzer, H, Dein, S and Hassiotis, A (2013) The relationship between happiness and intelligent quotient: the contribution of socio-economic and clinical factors. Psychological Medicine 43, 1303–1312.Google Scholar
Bartels, JM, Ryan, JJ, Urban, LS and Glass, LA (2010) Correlations between estimates of state IQ and FBI crime statistics. Personality and Individual Differences 48, 579–583.Google Scholar
Batty, GD, Deary, IJ, Tengstrom, A and Rasmussen, F (2008) IQ in early adulthood and later risk of death by homicide: cohort study of 1 million men. The British Journal of Psychiatry 193, 461–465.Google Scholar
Beaver, KM and Wright, JP (2011) The association between county-level IQ and county-level crime rates. Intelligence 39, 22–26.Google Scholar
Bellair, PE and McNulty, TL (2010) Cognitive skills, adolescent violence, and the moderating role of neighborhood disadvantage. Justice Quarterly 27, 538–559.Google Scholar
Bentall, RP, Wickham, S, Shevlin, M and Varese, F (2012) Do specific early-life adversities lead to specific symptoms of psychosis? A study from the 2007 The Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. Schizophrenia Bulletin 38, 734–740.Google Scholar
Chandola, T, Deary, IJ, Blane, D and Batty, GD (2006) Childhood IQ in relation to obesity and weight gain in adult life: the National Child Development (1958) Study. International Journal of Obesity (2005) 30, 1422–1432.Google Scholar
Davoren, M, Kallis, C, González, RA, Freestone, M and Coid, JW (2017) Anxiety disorders and intimate partner violence: can the association be explained by coexisting conditions or borderline personality traits? The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology 28, 639–658.Google Scholar
Deary, IJ and Batty, GD (2007) Cognitive epidemiology. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 61, 378–384.Google Scholar
de Tribolet-Hardy, F, Vohs, K, Mokros, A and Habermeyer, E (2014) Psychopathy, intelligence, and impulsivity in German violent offenders. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 37, 238–244.Google Scholar
Diamond, B, Morris, RG and Barnes, JC (2012) Individual and group IQ predict inmate violence. Intelligence 40, 115–122.Google Scholar
Fergusson, DM, Horwood, LJ and Ridder, EM (2005) Show me the child at seven II: childhood intelligence and later outcomes in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines 46, 850–858.Google Scholar
Freeman, J (2012) The relationship between lower intelligence, crime and custodial outcomes: a brief literary review of a vulnerable group. Vulnerable Groups & Inclusion 3, 14834.Google Scholar
Frisell, T, Pawitan, Y and Långström, N (2012) Is the association between general cognitive ability and violent crime caused by family-level confounders? PLoS ONE 7, e4178.Google Scholar
González, RA, Igoumenou, A, Kallis, C and Coid, JW (2016) Borderline personality disorder and violence in the UK population: categorical and dimensional trait assessment. BMC Psychiatry 16.Google Scholar
González, RA, Kallis, C and Coid, JW (2013) Adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and violence in the population of England: does comorbidity matter? PLoS ONE 8, e75575.Google Scholar
Gower, AL, Shlafer, RJ, Polan, J, McRee, A-L, McMorris, BJ, Pettingell, SL and Sieving, RE (2014) Brief report: associations between adolescent girls’ social-emotional intelligence and violence perpetration. Journal of Adolescence 37, 67–71.Google Scholar
Guay, J-P, Ouimet, M and Proulx, J (2005) On intelligence and crime: a comparison of incarcerated sex offenders and serious non-sexual violent criminals. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry 28, 405–417.Google Scholar
Gunnell, D, Magnusson, PKE and Rasmussen, F (2005) Low intelligence test scores in 18 year old men and risk of suicide: cohort study. The British Medical Journal 330, 167.Google Scholar
Jacob, L, Haro, JM and Koyanagi, A (2018 a) Post-traumatic stress symptoms are associated with physical multimorbidity: findings from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007. Journal of Affective Disorders 232, 385–392.Google Scholar
Jacob, L, Haro, JM and Koyanagi, A (2018 b) The association between pain and suicidal behavior in an English national sample: the role of psychopathology. Journal of Psychiatric Research 98, 39–46.Google Scholar
Jacob, L, Haro, JM and Koyanagi, A (2018 c) The association between problem gambling and psychotic experiences: findings from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey 2007. Schizophrenia Research, in press.Google Scholar
Jenkins, R, Meltzer, H, Bebbington, P, Brugha, T, Farrell, M, McManus, S and Singleton, N (2009) The British Mental Health Survey Programme: achievements and latest findings. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology 44, 899–904.Google Scholar
Jolliffe, D and Farrington, DP (2004) Empathy and offending: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Aggression and Violent Behavior 9, 441–476.Google Scholar
Koenen, KC, Moffitt, TE, Roberts, AL, Martin, LT, Kubzansky, L, Harrington, H, Poulton, R and Caspi, A (2009) Childhood IQ and adult mental disorders: a test of the cognitive reserve hypothesis. The American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 50–57.Google Scholar
Lagerström, M, Bremme, K, Eneroth, P and Janson, CG (1991) School marks and IQ-test scores for low birth weight children at the age of 13. European Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology 40, 129–136.Google Scholar
McGloin, J, Pratt, T and Maahs, J (2004) Rethinking the IQ-delinquency relationship: a longitudinal analysis of multiple theoretical models *. Justice Quarterly 21, 603–635.Google Scholar
McManus, S, Meltzer, H, Brugha, TS, Bebbington, P and Jenkins, R (2009) Adult Psychiatric Morbidity in England, 2007: Results of a Household Survey. London: The NHS Information Centre for Health and Social Care.Google Scholar
Mõttus, R, Guljajev, J, Allik, J, Laidra, K and Pullmann, H (2012) Longitudinal associations of cognitive ability, personality traits and school grades with antisocial behaviour. European Journal of Personality 26, 56–62.Google Scholar
Nelson, H and Willison, J (1991) National Adult Reading Test Manual, 2nd Edn. Windsor: NFER-Nelson.Google Scholar
Office for National Statistics (2017) Overview of violent crime and sexual offences. Available at https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/crimeandjustice/compendium/focusonviolentcrimeandsexualoffences/yearendingmarch2016/overviewofviolentcrimeandsexualoffencesGoogle Scholar
Rai, D, Hall, W, Bebbington, P, Skapinakis, P, Hassiotis, A, Weich, S, Meltzer, H, Moran, P, Brugha, T, Strydom, A and Farrell, M (2014) Estimated verbal IQ and the odds of problem gambling: a population-based study. Psychological Medicine 44, 1739–1749.Google Scholar
Ruiz-Pérez, I, Plazaola-Castaño, J and del Río-Lozano, M (2007) Physical health consequences of intimate partner violence in Spanish women. European Journal of Public Health 17, 437–443.Google Scholar
Rutherford, A, Zwi, AB, Grove, NJ and Butchart, A (2007) Violence: a glossary. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 61, 676–680.Google Scholar
Saunders, JB, Aasland, OG, Babor, TF, de la Fuente, JR and Grant, M (1993) Development of the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT): WHO collaborative project on early detection of persons with harmful alcohol consumption – II. Addiction 88, 791–804.Google Scholar
Schwartz, JA and Beaver, KM (2013) Serious fighting-related injuries produce a significant reduction in intelligence. The Journal of Adolescent Health 53, 520–525.Google Scholar
Sjölund, S, Hemmingsson, T and Allebeck, P (2015) IQ and level of alcohol consumption – findings from a national survey of Swedish conscripts. Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research 39, 548–555.Google Scholar
Sörberg, A, Allebeck, P, Melin, B, Gunnell, D and Hemmingsson, T (2013) Cognitive ability in early adulthood is associated with later suicide and suicide attempt: the role of risk factors over the life course. Psychological Medicine 43, 49–60.Google Scholar
Stattin, H and Klackenberg-Larsson, I (1993) Early language and intelligence development and their relationship to future criminal behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology 102, 369–378.Google Scholar
Stickley, A and Koyanagi, A (2016) Loneliness, common mental disorders and suicidal behavior: findings from a general population survey. Journal of Affective Disorders 197, 81–87.Google Scholar
Stockwell, T, Sitharthan, T, McGrath, D and Lang, E (1994) The measurement of alcohol dependence and impaired control in community samples. Addiction 89, 167–174.Google Scholar
Warmling, D, Lindner, SR and Coelho, EBS (2017) Intimate partner violence prevalence in the elderly and associated factors: systematic review. Ciencia & Saude Coletiva 22, 3111–3125.Google Scholar
Yun, L and Lee, J (2013) IQ and delinquency: the differential detection hypothesis revisited. Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice 11, 196–211.Google Scholar