Intelligence in Early Adulthood and Subsequent Risk of Assault: Cohort Study of 1,120,998 Swedish Men

Overview

Journal Psychosom Med

Specialty Psychiatry

Date 2010 Mar 2

PMID 20190131

Citations 3

Authors

Elise Whitley

G David Batty

Catharine R Gale

Ian J Deary

Per Tynelius

Finn Rasmussen

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: To examine the association between low intelligence (IQ) and increased risk of assault. Previous studies have been relatively small, have not adjust for socioeconomic status, and have not examined method-specific assaults.

Methods: Cox proportional hazards regression was used to explore IQ associations with assault by any means and by four specific methods in a large prospective cohort of 1,120,988 Swedish men. Study members had IQ measured in early adulthood and were well characterized for socioeconomic status in childhood and adulthood. Men were followed-up for an average of 24 years, and hospital admissions for injury due to assault were recorded.

Results: A total of 16,512 (1.5%) men had at least one hospital admission for injury due to assault by any means during follow-up. The most common assault was during a fight (n = 13,144), followed by stabbing (n = 1,211), blunt instrument (b = 352), and firearms assaults (n = 51). After adjusting for confounding variables, lower IQ scores were associated with an elevated risk of hospitalization for assaults by any means (hazard ratio per standard deviation decrease in IQ, 1.51; 95% confidence interval, 1.49, 1.54) and for each of the cause-specific assaults: fight: 1.48 (1.45, 1.51); stabbing: 1.68 (1.58, 1.79); blunt instrument: 1.65 (1.47, 1.85); and firearms: 1.34 (1.00, 1.80). These gradients were stepwise across the full IQ range.

Conclusions: Low IQ scores in early adulthood were associated with a subsequently increased risk of assault. A greater understanding of mechanisms underlying these associations may provide opportunities and strategies for prevention.

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