Comprehensive Psychiatry
Volume 45, Issue 4 , Pages 275-280, July 2004

Personality dimensions and criminal arrest☆

  • Jack Samuels

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Corresponding Author InformationAddress correspondence to Jack Samuels, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Meyer 4-181, 600 N Wolfe St, Baltimore, MD 21287 USA
    • ,
  • O.Joseph Bienvenu

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Bernadette Cullen

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Paul T Costa Jr

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • William W Eaton

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • ,
  • Gerald Nestadt

      Affiliations

    • Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Department of Mental Hygiene, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
    • Gerontology Research Center, National Institute on Aging, Baltimore, MD, USA

Abstract 

Previous studies have implicated antisocial personality disorder in criminal behavior, but little is known about the association between “normal” personality dimensions and arrest. We investigated the relationships between these personality dimensions and prior arrest in a sample of adults participating in a longitudinal epidemiological study. Between 1993 and 1999, psychiatrists re-examined subjects who were originally interviewed in Baltimore in 1981 as part of the Epidemiologic Catchment Area study; the psychiatrists diagnosed axis I and axis II disorders according to DSM-IV criteria. A total of 611 subjects also completed the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (NEO-PI-R), which assesses five broad factors and 30 facets of normal personality. History of criminal arrest in Maryland in the period 1981 to 1993 was determined from the state criminal justice database. Student’s t test and logistic regression were used to evaluate relationships between NEO personality scores and prior arrest. Controlling for demographic characteristics, alcohol or drug use disorders, and DSM-IV personality disorder scores, the odds of prior arrest increased with scores on angry hostility, impulsiveness, and excitement-seeking dimensions. Prior arrest was inversely related to scores on trust, straightforwardness, compliance, modesty, dutifulness, and deliberation dimensions. The results suggest that specific dimensions of normal personality are related to criminal arrest in the community.

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☆ Supported by Grant No. MH50616 and MH47447 from the National Institute on Mental Health, and a Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Clinical Scientist Award (to J.B.).

PII: S0010-440X(04)00049-5

doi:10.1016/j.comppsych.2004.03.013

Comprehensive Psychiatry
Volume 45, Issue 4 , Pages 275-280, July 2004

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