Mood disorders and adolescents in conflict with the law and in custody
Keywords:
Adolescent, Criminal behavior, Mental disorders, Legal Medicine, Minor offenders, Minors, Mood disordersAbstract
Objective: To assess the prevalence of Mood Disorders and their relationship with serious criminal acts in the population of adolescents in conflict with the law under the custody of the CENSE (Socio-education Center for underage offenders), in the metropolitan region of Curitiba-PR. Method: 123 inmates and their respective guardians were interviewed. This population comprised male individuals aged 15 to 17 years old. The study included individuals who were sentenced or temporarily detained, serving a socio-educational measure depriving their freedom. Adolescents diagnosed with intellectual disabilities and pervasive developmental disorders were excluded. The interview was conducted by the medical researcher executing the project, a specialist in Forensic Psychiatry; the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children Present and Lifetime (K-SADS-PL) was used, which is a semi-structured psychiatric interview to identify disorders in the age group between 6 and 18 years. Results: In this study, the most prevalent psychiatric disorders were similar to the same psychopathological profile observed in several similar studies in other countries and in Brazil. Mood Disorders had a high prevalence in this population, being diagnosed during the current episode in 15.9% of the sample, becoming the most prevalent syndrome after Alcohol and Drug Dependence Disorders 22.9% and Disruptive Disorders 31.8%. The psychopathological profile observed in this study in relation to adolescents who committed violent crimes, confirms other studies that have found a high prevalence of Mood Disorders in this population. Conclusion: This research confirms the high prevalence of Mood Disorders found in several studies in different countries when adolescents in conflict with the law and in custody are evaluated. The relationship of Mood Disorders with some violent offenses has been demonstrated, thus Mood Disorders can be seen as one of several elements that can predispose to transgressive behavior in adolescents
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