Our PHD student Ms Kim Reising and lecturer Dr Maria Ttofi have published a paper called Depression and Anxiety Outcomes of Offending Trajectories: A Systematic Review of Prospective Longitudinal Studies in the Journal of Criminal Justice. Co-authors of this paper are Prof David Farrington, Institute of Criminology, University of Cambridge and Prof Alex R. Piquero, University of Texas at Dallas.
The paper presents a comprehensive review of the literature on the link between developmental trajectories of offending and adult mental health outcomes - anxiety and/or depression. Results show that different offender groups face varying probabilities of mental health problems. Compared to non-offenders, the odds for mental health problems were nearly three-times higher for life-course-persistent offenders and almost twice as high for late-onset offenders. Adolescence-limited offenders suffered the least mental health problems.
The study suggests that measures against offending can contribute to reducing mental health problems. More research needs to empirically investigate conditions and mechanisms that can explain how and when poor mental health is related to chronic and persistent offending. This will help develop effective programmes and interventions for targeting life-course-persistent and late-onset offending and poor mental health, while promoting psychological wellbeing. You can read the paper here.