Community Violence Perpetration and Victimization Among Adults With Mental Illnesses

TLDR

The study examined 6‑month prevalence and associations of community violence perpetration and victimization among 4,480 adults with mental illnesses, underscoring a critical need for public health interventions to reduce violence in this vulnerable population. Baseline data from five U.S. studies were pooled and the MacArthur Community Violence Screening Instrument was administered to assess perpetration and victimization.

Abstract

In a large heterogeneous sample of adults with mental illnesses, we examined the 6-month prevalence and nature of community violence perpetration and victimization, as well as associations between these outcomes.Baseline data were pooled from 5 studies of adults with mental illnesses from across the United States (n = 4480); the studies took place from 1992 to 2007. The MacArthur Community Violence Screening Instrument was administered to all participants.Prevalence of perpetration ranged from 11.0% to 43.4% across studies, with approximately one quarter (23.9%) of participants reporting violence. Prevalence of victimization was higher overall (30.9%), ranging from 17.0% to 56.6% across studies. Most violence (63.5%) was perpetrated in residential settings. The prevalence of violence-related physical injury was approximately 1 in 10 overall and 1 in 3 for those involved in violent incidents. There were strong associations between perpetration and victimization.Results provided further evidence that adults with mental illnesses experienced violent outcomes at high rates, and that they were more likely to be victims than perpetrators of community violence. There is a critical need for public health interventions designed to reduce violence in this vulnerable population.