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Association between intelligence quotient and violence perpetration in the English general population

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 July 2018

Louis Jacob ,
Josep Maria Haro  and
Ai Koyanagi
Louis Jacob*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Medicine, University of Paris 5, Paris 75006, France
Josep Maria Haro
Affiliation:
Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Dr Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08830, Spain Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Monforte de Lemos 3-5 Pabellón 11, Madrid 28029, Spain
Ai Koyanagi
Affiliation:
Research and Development Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Universitat de Barcelona, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu, Dr Antoni Pujadas, 42, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Barcelona 08830, Spain Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Salud Mental, CIBERSAM, Monforte de Lemos 3-5 Pabellón 11, Madrid 28029, Spain
*
Author for correspondence: Louis Jacob, E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Background

Data on the relationship between intelligence quotient (IQ) and violence perpetration are scarce and nationally representative data from the UK adult population is lacking. Therefore, our goal was to examine the relationship between IQ and violence perpetration using nationally representative community-based data from the UK.

Methods

We analyzed cross-sectional data from the 2007 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. IQ was estimated using the National Adult Reading Test (NART). Violence perpetration referred to being in a physical fight or having deliberately hit anyone in the past 5 years. We conducted logistic regression analysis to assess the association between IQ (exposure variable) and violence perpetration (outcome variable).

Results

There were 6872 participants aged ⩾16 years included in this study. The prevalence of violence perpetration decreased linearly with increasing IQ [16.3% (IQ 70–79) v. 2.9% (IQ 120–129)]. After adjusting for demographic and behavioral factors, childhood adversity, and psychiatric morbidity, compared with those with IQ 120–129, IQ scores of 110–119, 100–109, 90–99, 80–89, and 70–79 were associated with 1.07 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63–1.84], 1.90 (95% CI 1.12–3.22), 1.80 (95% CI 1.05–3.13), 2.36 (95% CI 1.32–4.22), and 2.25 (95% CI 1.26–4.01) times higher odds for violence perpetration, respectively.

Conclusions

Lower IQ was associated with violence perpetration in the UK general population. Further studies are warranted to assess how low IQ can lead to violence perpetration, and whether interventions are possible for this high-risk group.

Keywords

Community-based studyintelligence quotientUKviolence perpetration
Type
Original Articles
Information
Psychological Medicine , Volume 49 , Issue 8 , June 2019 , pp. 1316 - 1323
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2018 

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