Neurodiversity linked to violence-related emergency department visits

People with ADHD are more likely to experience violence and attend hospital Emergency Departments, finds new research by Cardiff University,  Swansea University and the University of York.

The study looked at how neurodevelopmental diagnoses were linked to assault-related attendances at Emergency Departments.

The researchers analysed population data from residents in Wales between 2012 and 2024, and considered a range of health and socio-demographic characteristics of patients that might be associated with their attendance in an emergency department due to violence.

Professor Simon Moore, Director of the Violence Research Group at Cardiff University, said: “Alcohol misuse, substance misuse and poor mental health have previously been linked with increased exposure to violence. We wanted to better understand whether neurodevelopmental diagnoses were also associated with violence-related attendances at Emergency Departments.”

The team found that people with ADHD, personality disorders, and learning difficulties were at a higher risk of having violence-related visits to emergency departments.

However, autism spectrum disorder reduced the likelihood of attending emergency departments due to violence.

Professor Moore added: “However, we would need to undertake further research to better understand the cause of this association, as the current study was cross-sectional.

“We observed a lower likelihood of violence-related Emergency Department attendance among people with an autism diagnosis. The reasons for this are unclear and require further investigation. It is important to note that this finding does not mean autistic people are not vulnerable to abuse or victimisation.”

Although the findings do not suggest that neurodevelopmental diagnoses themselves lead to violence exposure, they do suggest that there are opportunities for Violence Prevention Teams in emergency departments to identify patients attending due to violence, the psychosocial vulnerabilities that contribute to their exposure to violence, and therefore work with other organisations so that patients are better supported.

“This research highlights that some neurodevelopmental diagnoses are associated with different patterns of violence-related Emergency Department attendance,” added Professor Moore.

The research, Cross-sectional Associations Between Neurodiversity and Violence-related Attendances in Welsh Emergency Departments and the Role of Hospital-based Violence Intervention Programmes, was conducted by the Centre for Health Economics at the University of York, Swansea University, the Violence Research Group at the School of Dentistry at Cardiff University, the Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute at Cardiff University, the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board, and the Unit for Development in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the University of South Wales.