The association between depression and crime outcomes: A Swedish population-based study

Background

Research on the association between depression and crime is limited regarding different types of crime and severity of crime.

Aim

Using Swedish national register data, we explored the association between depression and various crime outcomes and the severity of crime.

Methods

We identified 72,057 individuals with an outpatient depression diagnosis between 2001 and 2013. Individuals with depression were age-, sex-, and socioeconomic status (SES)-matched to undiagnosed population controls (n = 1,080,855). Logistic regression models estimated odds of any, violent, property, drug-related and non-violent crime, as well as the severity of crime.

Results

In fully adjusted models, individuals with depression had significantly higher odds of any conviction (adjusted OR [adjOR] 1.66 [95 % CI 1.60–1.71]). This pattern persisted across all crime types (violent, property, drug-related, non-violent), and for crime severity, including increased odds for longer sentences and multiple convictions.

Conclusions

Individuals with depression had an increased risk for convictions across all crime types and more severe crimes. Our results emphasize the importance of early identification of risk factors and targeted treatments, and the necessity for clarification of the underlying mechanisms of our findings.