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 work is published in Emergency Medicine Journal.

The study looked at how neurodevelopmental diagnoses were linked to assault-related visits to emergency departments. The researchers analyzed population data from residents in Wales between 2012 and 2024 and considered a range of health and sociodemographic characteristics of patients that might be associated with their attendance at 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 visits to 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.

“We found that people with a neurodiverse condition were more likely to experience violence-related emergency department attendance than those without the condition, even after accounting for a range of other health and sociodemographic characteristics,” said Professor Simon Moore Professor of Public Health Research Co-Director of the Security, Crime and Intelligence Innovation Institute Director of Violence Research Group.

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 victimization.”

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 to work with other organizations so that patients are better supported.

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

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