Mental disorders and medical conditions associated with causing injury or death: A population-based study

The aim of the present study is to examine mental disorders and medical conditions associated with causing harm to another person in the general adult population. The sample (n=22,138) was drawn from a cross-sectional survey designed to characterize mental health needs in France. Twelve-month DSM-IV axis I mental disorders and medical conditions, and lifetime occurrence of potentially traumatic events were assessed with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview-SF Overall, 2% (n=430) of the sample reported having injured or killed someone. Causing harm was associated with male gender, lower education level, and being unemployed. The great majority (85%) of those who caused harm had experienced two or more additional potentially traumatic events. When adjusting for gender, employment status, education and number of events experienced, causing harm was associated with certain anxiety disorders, drug dependence and lifetime suicide attempt but not with major depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Furthermore, causing harm was not associated with medical conditions in multivariate analyses. These results highlight the need for clinicians to be particularly attentive to the psychological burden that may be experienced by those who have harmed or killed someone.