Substance use disorder and violent crime: The relationship between single- and polysubstance use disorder and  violent offenses in a Dutch clinical youth population

In the past decade, one of the main difficulties in describing a general relationship between substance abuse and violent crime is the question whether different types of substances may relate differently to violent crime, and which other factors may be influential. The current study investigated the effect of different types and combinations of substances on violent offenses committed by Dutch youth (16-22 years) who were starting an addiction treatment for a substance use disorder (SUD) with alcohol, cannabis, or stimulants (cocaine or amphetamines). Participants (N=310) were individually assessed, with questions about their substance use behavior and whether they had committed a violent offense. The independent variables for this study were polysubstance use, combined stimulants and alcohol use, and singular or combined cannabis use. Contrary to the hypotheses, the association between polysubstance use and violent offenses was not significant (OR=1.14, 95% CI= 0.62–2.08), and the...Show moreIn the past decade, one of the main difficulties in describing a general relationship between substance abuse and violent crime is the question whether different types of substances may relate differently to violent crime, and which other factors may be influential. The current study investigated the effect of different types and combinations of substances on violent offenses committed by Dutch youth (16-22 years) who were starting an addiction treatment for a substance use disorder (SUD) with alcohol, cannabis, or stimulants (cocaine or amphetamines). Participants (N=310) were individually assessed, with questions about their substance use behavior and whether they had committed a violent offense. The independent variables for this study were polysubstance use, combined stimulants and alcohol use, and singular or combined cannabis use. Contrary to the hypotheses, the association between polysubstance use and violent offenses was not significant (OR=1.14, 95% CI= 0.62–2.08), and the association between stimulants use and violent offenses (OR=1.20, 95% CI=0.47– 3.04) and between cannabis use and violent offenses (OR= 0.63, 95% CI=0.34–1.18) was not significant either. The covariate ‘indication of conduct disorder’ had a significant influence on the relationship between types of SUD and the occurrence of violent offenses, but an influence of age and gender on this relationship was not found. Because this is the first study with a clinical youth sample, the best explanation for these findings is that the psychoactive effects of the substances were (at least) not the primary influence of the occurrence of violent offenses committed by youth.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

Substance use disorder and violent crime: The relationship between single- and polysubstance use disorder and violent offenses in a Dutch clinical youth population