A national epidemiological study investigating risk factors for police interrogation and false confession among juveniles and young persons.

• Published in: Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology
• Main Authors: Gudjonsson, Gisli H, Sigurdsson, Jon Fridrik, Sigfusdottir, Inga Dora, Asgeirsdottir, Bryndis Bjork, González, Rafael A, Young, Susan
• Other Authors: 1 Kings Coll London, London, England 2 Reykjavik Univ, Reykjavik, Iceland 3 Univ Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland 4 Landspitali Natl Univ Hosp Iceland, Reykjavik, Iceland 5 Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, London, England 6 Univ Puerto Rico, Grad Sch Publ Hlth, San Juan, PR 00936 USA 7 WLMHT, Broadmoor Hosp, London, England 8 Univ London Imperial Coll Sci Technol & Med, Ctr Mental Hlth, Fac Med, 7th Floor Commonwealth Bldg,Cane Rd, London W12 0NN, England
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Heidelberg 2016
• Subjects: ADHD; Afbrot; Refsingar; PSC12; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity; Conduct Disorder; Epidemiology; Adolescent; Young Adult; Iceland
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2336/607743; https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-015-1145-8

To access publisher's full text version of this article, please click on the hyperlink in Additional Links field or click on the hyperlink at the top of the page marked Files. This article is open access. The principal aims of this study are to identify risk factors associated with police arrest and false confessions and to investigate whether the severity of the ADHD condition/symptoms increases the risk. 22,226 young persons in Iceland anonymously completed self-report questionnaires screening for conduct disorder and ADHD. In addition, they stated whether they had a diagnosis of ADHD and had received ADHD medication, and their history of offending, police interrogation and false confession. Participants were stratified into two age groups, 14-16 and 17-24 years. The older group was significantly more likely to have been interrogated by the police but the younger group were much more vulnerable to false confession during interrogation. Males were more likely to be at risk for both than females. The severity of the ADHD condition increased the risk of both interrogation and false confession. Negative binomial regressions showed that age, gender, conduct disorder, offending, and ADHD symptoms were all significant predictors of both interrogations and number of false confessions. Conduct disorder was the single best predictor of police interrogation, but the findings were more mixed regarding false confessions. Young people presenting with a combination of severe ADHD and comorbid conduct disorder had the worst outcome for both interrogation and false confessions. The findings endorse the need for support of persons with ADHD to be put in place to ensure fair due process and to prevent miscarriages of justice. Janssen Eli Lilly Shire Novartis Flynn Pharma