Interaction between birth complications and early maternal rejection in predisposing individuals to adult violence: specificity to serious, early-onset violence

• Published in: The American journal of psychiatry Vol. 154; no. 9; pp. 1265 - 1271
• Main Authors: RAINE, A, BRENNAN, P, MEDNICK, S. A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Psychiatric Publishing 01-09-1997; American Psychiatric Association
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Age of Onset; Biological and medical sciences; Birth experiences; Child of Impaired Parents; Comorbidity; Crime - statistics & numerical data; Denmark; Denmark - epidemiology; Disease Susceptibility; Factors; Female; Humans; Juvenile Delinquency - psychology; Juvenile Delinquency - statistics & numerical data; Male; Maternal Behavior; Maternal rejection; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mother-Child Relations; Obstetric Labor Complications - epidemiology; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications - epidemiology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Rejection (Psychology); Relationship; Social behavior disorders. Criminal behavior. Delinquency; Violence; Violence - psychology; Violence - statistics & numerical data; Denmark; Human; Pregnancy disorders; Violence; Risk factor; Predisposition; Social rejection; Delivery disorders; Adult; Complication; Mother child relation; Social behavior disorder; Antecedent
• ISSN: 0002-953X; 1535-7228
• DOI: 10.1176/ajp.154.9.1265

OBJECTIVE: The authors previously reported that birth complications
interact with early maternal rejection in predisposing individuals to
violence at age 18 years. This study extended the follow-up period for
violent offending from 18 years to 34 years, thus increasing the sample of
violent offenders threefold and allowing more detailed analyses on onset
and type of violence, the form of maternal rejection, and the effect of
maternal mental illness. METHOD: Complications in the births of 4,269 males
in Denmark, maternal rejection of these individuals before the age of 1
year, and their histories of criminal offenses at age 34 years were
assessed. RESULTS: The biosocial interaction previously observed held for
violent but not nonviolent crime, was specific to more serious forms of
violence and not threats of violence, held for early-onset but not
late-onset violence, and was not accounted for by psychiatric illness in
the mothers. Being reared in a public care institution in the first year of
life and the mother's attempt to abort the fetus were the key aspects of
maternal rejection that interacted with birth complications in predisposing
a subject to violence. CONCLUSIONS: These findings 1) indicate that the
mechanisms underlying early-onset, serious violence differ from those for
less serious, late-onset violence, 2) implicate very early factors in the
development of violence, 3) highlight the potential importance of
integrating psychosocial with biological factors in understanding and
preventing violence, and 4) suggest that interventions to reduce birth
complications and maternal rejection may help reduce violence.