Delinquent boys: higher adult death risk

CARDIFF, Wales, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Men with a history of juvenile delinquency have an increased risk of becoming disabled or dying by age 48, researchers in Wales found.

The study, published in the Journal of Public Health, found that among boys who engaged at age 10 in anti-social behavior such as regularly skipping school or being rated troublesome or dishonest by teachers and parents, and who were convicted of a crime by age 18, 16 percent had died or become disabled by the age of 48.

This compared with 2.6 percent of the boys from the same lower socioeconomic London neighborhood who were not delinquent or offenders, the study said.

"We were surprised to see such a strong link between these early influences and premature death and this indicates that things that happen in families at age 8-10 are part of a progression towards dying prematurely," study leader Professor Jonathan Shepherd, director of the violence and society research group at Cardiff University in Wales, said in a statement.

"It was also surprising that the increase was not limited to substance abuse or other mental health problems known to be linked with an anti-social lifestyle, but included premature death and disability from a wide variety of chronic illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and cancer."