Bipolar illness: correlates of dangerous inpatient behaviour

Forty male patients with bipolar affective illness were examined for factors correlating with dangerous inpatient behaviour. It was found that 63 per cent of the variance for inpatient assaults could be accounted for by a combination of a history of severe childhood discipline, a manic state, the degree of psychosis and a record of violence prior to admission. Such information may be of use in the clinical prediction of violent acts by bipolar patients, as well as suggesting ways of preventing them.