Risk factors for violence in schizophrenia

Most people with schizophrenia are not violent but they are more likely to commit violent acts than other people. This can be especially true if people with schizophrenia also abuse drugs or alcohol or have a history of violence before diagnosis. A team of researchers, led by Dr Seena Fazel at Warneford Hospital in Oxford analyzed data from 13,800 people with schizophrenia in Sweden. They found that those people whose parents had been convicted of a violent crime were 65-83% more likely to commit one themselves. The researchers thought that this could be due either to a genetic cause which led to both parents and their children becoming more violent, or the effects on children of growing up in a violent home.

You can find out more about this research at

http://uk.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUKTRE53L42520090422?feedType=RSS&feedName=healthNews