Suchergebnisse

This study investigated the participation of expert witnesses (psychological, psychiatric, and medical) in criminal cases regarding allegations of child sexual abuse in Sweden. All criminal cases (n = 648) from 1985, 1989, and 1992 were reviewed with regard to the participation of expert witnesses, their professional backgrounds, and conclusions. Logistic regression models were applied to the data to explore factors associated with expert witness participation, and factors associated with a conviction against the defendant's denial, respectively. The majority of psychological experts supported the abuse allegations. The use of expert witnesses for psychological issues decreased (25%, 25%, and 15% of the cases each year). The results provide a descriptive platform for psycholegal practices in child sexual abuse cases in Sweden.

Purpose: This study investigated the utility of the risk assessment "Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth" (SAVRY) within the social services in Stockholm County, Sweden. Method: SAVRY assessments of 56 adolescents were compared to assessments guided by another instrument (Adolescent Drug Abuse Diagnosis [ADAD]; n = 38) and assessments without support of a structured method ( n = 38). Results: The results showed that social workers conducting SAVRY assessments documented a significantly larger number of risk and protective factors compared to the other assessments, and these factors predicted, with a few exceptions, reoffending to a larger extent. SAVRY summary risk rating significantly predicted the occurrence of serious violent crimes (area under the curve [AUC] = .80, p < .01) and less serious violence (AUC = .70, p < .05). Conclusions: SAVRY performed at least as well in naturalistic settings as in previous studies conducted in more controlled environments. Furthermore, the SAVRY performed better than the other structured instrument (ADAD).

Introduction:Non-random selection into a study population due to differences between consenters and non-consenters may introduce participation bias. Past investigations of factors predicting consent to collection of medical health records for research imply that age, sex, health status, and education are of importance for participation, but disagree on the direction of effects. Very little is known about influences on consent from adolescents.Methods:Two cohorts of Swedish 15-year-old twins (totaln= 4,611) previously invited to the Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS) responded to a questionnaire with information on sex, individual's health, height, weight, and parental factors. The questionnaire included a question for consent to collection of medical health records. Predictors for consent were analyzed using logistic regression. Additionally, regional differences in the collection of health records of consenters were evaluated.Results:Males were significantly less likely to consent compared to females (OR 0.74, 95% CI 0.64–0.85). The twin siblings' decision to consent was strongly associated with consent (OR 10.9, 95% CI 8.76–13.5), and individuals whose parents had responded to the original CATSS study were more likely to consent to record collection at age 15 (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.81–2.75). Results of the subsequent collection of consenters' medical health records varied between geographical regions of Sweden.Conclusion:We identified several predictors for adolescents' consent to collection of their medical health records. Further selection was introduced through the subsequent record collection. Whether this will induce participation bias in future studies depends on the research questions' relationship to the identified predictors.

The Child and Adolescent Twin Study in Sweden (CATSS) is an ongoing longitudinal twin study targeting all twins born in Sweden since July 1, 1992. Since 2004, parents of twins are interviewed regarding the children's somatic and mental health and social environment in connection with their 9th or 12th birthdays (CATSS-9/12). By January 2010, 8,610 parental interviews concerning 17,220 twins had been completed, with an overall response rate of 80%. At age 15 (CATSS-15) and 18 (CATSS-18), twins and parents complete questionnaires that, in addition to assessments of somatic and mental health, include measures of personality development and psychosocial adaptation. Twin pairs in CATSS-9/12 with one or both twins screening positive for autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, tic disorders, developmental coordination disorder, learning disorders, oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, and/or eating problems have been followed with in-depth questionnaires on family, social environment and personality, and subsequently by clinical assessments at age 15 together with randomly selected population controls, including 195 clinically assessed twin pairs from the first 2 year cohorts (CATSS-15/DOGSS). This article describes the cohorts and study groups, data collection, and measures used. Prevalences, distributions, heritability estimates, ages at onset, and sex differences of mental health problems in the CATSS-9/12, that were analyzed and found to be overall comparable to those of other clinical and epidemiological studies. The CATSS study has the potential of answering important questions on the etiology of childhood mental health problems and their role in the development of later adjustment problems.

The Swedish Twin Registry (STR) today contains more than 194,000 twins and more than 75,000 pairs have zygosity determined by an intra-pair similarity algorithm, DNA, or by being of opposite sex. Of these, approximately 20,000, 25,000, and 30,000 pairs are monozygotic, same-sex dizygotic, and opposite-sex dizygotic pairs, respectively. Since its establishment in the late 1950s, the STR has been an important epidemiological resource for the study of genetic and environmental influences on a multitude of traits, behaviors, and diseases. Following large investments in the collection of biological specimens in the past 10 years we have now established a Swedish twin biobank with DNA from 45,000 twins and blood serum from 15,000 twins, which effectively has also transformed the registry into a powerful resource for molecular studies. We here describe the main projects within which the new collections of both biological samples as well as phenotypic measures have been collected. Coverage by year of birth, zygosity determination, ethnic heterogeneity, and influences of in vitro fertilization are also described.