Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and criminal behavior: A Swedish population based study.

Both prenatal and circulating testosterone and other androgens have been suggested to influence the individual's propensity to commit crime, but empirical evidence is limited and inconsistent. Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia (CAH) and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) are both hyperandrogenic conditions but with an important difference; whereas subjects with CAH are exposed to high concentrations of androgens in utero, women with PCOS are subjected to high androgens in adulthood. Comparing these groups can therefore yield important insights of androgenic effects on behavior. In the current study, information on medical diagnoses and convicted crimes were gathered from Swedish population-based registers. The associations between diagnoses of CAH or PCOS and any crime, violent crime or sex crime were estimated with conditional logistic regression. Results showed that CAH in women and men did not predict criminality, whereas an increased risk for any crime and violent crime was found in PCOS women. Our findings indicate that female hyperandrogenism in adulthood, but not prenatal hyperandrogenism, is associated with risk for criminal behavior. Further research into hyperandrogenic conditions holds opportunities to deepen our understanding of the etiology of crime and psychopathology.

Klinefelter syndrome and risk of psychosis, autism and ADHD.

BACKGROUND: Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorders and ADHD might be overrepresented in Klinefelter syndrome, but previous investigations have yielded inconclusive results. METHODS: We compared a national sample of 860 Klinefelter patients in Sweden with 86 000 matched population controls. To assess the risks of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, autism spectrum disorder and ADHD in Klinefelter patients, we estimated odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals using conditional logistic regressions. RESULTS: Klinefelter patients had almost four times higher risks of schizophrenia, odds ratio (OR) = 3.6, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.0-6.7 and bipolar disorder (OR = 3.8, CI 1.8-7.6) and about six times higher risk of autism spectrum disorder (OR = 6.2, CI 4.0-9.4) and ADHD (OR = 5.6, CI 4.0-7.8). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of psychosis, autism and ADHD is increased in Klinefelter patients. These findings indicate an X chromosome-related factor in the etiology of the studied psychiatric disorders, and may also have implications for treatment of patients with Klinefelter syndrome.