Twelve-month prevalence and correlates of criminal offending in a nationally representative sample of people with psychotic disorders.

This article examines the 12-month prevalence and correlates of criminal offending, including violent offending, among adults with psychotic disorders using data from the 2010 Australian national Survey of High Impact Psychosis (SHIP). Among 1,784 participants, 16.7% reported some criminal offending and 2.4% reported violent offending in the past year. Sociodemographic factors such as younger age, male sex, homelessness, cannabis and other illicit substance use, and violent victimisation were significantly associated with any offending, while clinical factors including past year delusions, mania, deliberate self-harm, and premorbid personality disorder were linked to any offending but not violent offending. The study found that only a few non-clinical factors—male sex, homelessness, and Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent—were associated with violent offending, challenging the emphasis often placed on clinical symptoms in predicting violent behavior among people with psychotic disorders. These findings are based on a representative sample of individuals in contact with public mental health services in Australia and highlight the importance of addressing social and behavioral risk factors alongside clinical management.