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Violence and severe mental disorders - sTOP

People with psychosis are at risk of several detrimental outcomes, including a small but increased risk of committing violence.

The sTOP project is a clinical study exploring violence in psychosis by combining biological, psychological and societal perspectives.

About the project

Interpersonal violence is a significant contributor to death and disability worldwide1. Persons with severe mental disorders are of increased risk of committing as well as being a victim of violence2. Thus, approaching violence from a preventative perspective, we are interested in mental illness as a potentially modifiable risk factor. Improved understanding of the illness-related pathways to violence can lead to better treatment of individual patients as well as increased community safety.

The sTOP project is a clinical study exploring violence in psychosis by combining biological, psychological and societal perspectives. We investigate the importance of factors such as childhood trauma and neglect, substance use, psychosis symptoms, personality traits, cognitive functioning, and immune markers, often in combination with advanced studies of brain anatomy and function. The study is conducted in close collaboration with practitioners within forensic psychiatry wards and prisons, and national and international experts in forensic psychiatry, neuroscience, and clinical psychosis research.

Aims

  • Develop stratification tools for targeted treatment of forensic psychiatry patients.
  • Validate and classify clinical characteristics of violence and antisocial behaviour phenotypes in severe mental disorders.
  • Identify shared neurobiological and environmental underpinnings of antisocial behaviour and severe mental disorders.
  • Identify developmental trajectories and targets for prevention of antisocial behaviour in severe mental disorders.

Project organization

sTOP builds on the TOP study at University of Oslo and Oslo University horspital (TOP is an abbreviation of thematically organized psychiosis reserch) The project started in 2017 at NORMENT  (Norwegian centre for mental Health reserach) in collaboration with SIFER (the national network for forensic psychiatry research and education) and the correctional services. The project has received funding from the regional health authorities and the Norwegian Research Council.

Selected publications

 

PhD- theses

Natalia Tesli (2022): “Imaging violence in psychosis: Using MRI to investigate neurobiological correlates of violence in psychotic disorders” 

 

Master-theses

Andrea Eftang Rø (2023): “Resting State Functional Connectivity in Violent Offenders and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders”

Scientific articles

 

Vaskinn A, Rokicki J, Bell C, Tesli N, Bang N, Hjell G, Fischer-Vieler T, Haukvik UK, Friestad C. Violent Offending in Males With or Without Schizophrenia: A Role for Social Cognition? Schizophr Bull. 2023 Oct 20:sbad151. doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbad151. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37861424.

Hjell G, Rokicki J, Szabo A, Holst R, Tesli N, Bell C, Fischer-Vieler T, Werner MCF, Lunding SH, Ormerod MBEG, Johansen IT, Djurovic S, Ueland T, Andreassen OA, Melle I, Lagerberg TV, Mørch-Johnsen L, Steen NE, Haukvik UK. Impulsivity across severe mental disorders: a cross-sectional study of immune markers and psychopharmacotherapy. BMC Psychiatry. 2023 Sep 7;23(1):659. doi: 10.1186/s12888-023-05154-4. PMID: 37674162; PMCID: PMC10483855.

Fischer-Vieler T, Ringen PA, Kvig E, Bell C, Hjell G, Tesli N, Rokicki J, Melle I, Andreassen OA, Friestad C, Haukvik UK. Associations between clinical insight and history of violence in psychosis patients. Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2023, sgad011, https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgad011

Bell C, Tesli N, Gurholt TP, Rokicki J, Hjell G, Fischer-Vieler T, Melle I, Agartz I, Andreassen OA, Ringen PA, Rasmussen K, Dahl H, Friestad C, Haukvik UK.  Psychopathy subdomains in violent offenders with and without a psychotic disorder. Nord J Psychiatry 2022 Oct 19;1-10. doi: 10.1080/08039488.2022.2128869.

Tesli N, Bell C, Hjell G, Fischer-Vieler T, I Maximov I, Richard G, Tesli M, Melle I, Andreassen OA, Agartz I, Westlye LT, Friestad C, Haukvik UK, Rokicki J. The age of violence: Mapping brain age in psychosis and psychopathy. Neuroimage Clin. 2022 Sep 6;36:103181. doi: 10.1016/j.nicl.2022.103181. PMID: 36088844; PMCID: PMC9474919.

Hjell G, Szabo A, Mørch-Johnsen L, Holst R, Tesli N, Bell C, Fischer-Vieler T, Werner MCF, Lunding SH, Ormerod MBEG, Johansen IT, Dieset I, Djurovic S, Melle I, Ueland T, Andreassen OA, Steen NE, Haukvik UK. Interleukin-18 signaling system links to agitation in severe mental disorders. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2022 Jun;140:105721. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2022.105721. Epub 2022 Mar 12. PMID: 35301151.

Bell C, Tesli N, Gurholt TP, Rokicki J, Hjell G, Fischer-Vieler T, Melle I, Agartz I, Andreassen OA, Rasmussen K, Johansen R, Friestad C, Haukvik UK. Associations between amygdala nuclei volumes, psychosis, psychopathy, and violent offending. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2022 Jan;319:111416. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2021.111416. Epub 2021 Nov 24. PMID: 34847406.

Tesli N, Jaroslav Rokicki R, Maximov I, Bell C, Hjell G, Gurholt T, Fischer-Vieler T, Bang N, Tesli M, Westlye LT, Andreassen OA, Melle I, Agartz I, Rasmussen K, Johansen R, Friestad C, Haukvik UK.  White Matter Matters: Unraveling Violence in Psychosis and Psychopathy, Schizophrenia Bulletin Open, Volume 2, Issue 1, January 2021, sgab026, https://doi.org/10.1093/schizbullopen/sgab026

Hjell G, Mørch-Johnsen L, Holst R, Tesli N, Bell C, Lunding SH, Rødevand L, Werner MCF, Melle I, Andreassen OA, Lagerberg TV, Steen NE, Haukvik UK. Disentangling the relationship between cholesterol, aggression, and impulsivity in severe mental disorders. Brain Behav. 2020 Sep;10(9):e01751. doi: 10.1002/brb3.1751. Epub 2020 Jul 17. PMID: 32681586; PMCID: PMC7507477.

Storvestre GB, Jensen A, Bjerke E, Tesli N, Rosaeg C, Friestad C, Andreassen OA, Melle I, Haukvik UK. Childhood Trauma in Persons With Schizophrenia and a History of Interpersonal Violence. Front Psychiatry. 2020 May 5;11:383. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00383. PMID: 32431632; PMCID: PMC7214725.

Tesli N, van der Meer D, Rokicki J, Storvestre G, Røsæg C, Jensen A, Hjell G, Bell C, Fischer-Vieler T, Tesli M, Andreassen OA, Melle I, Agartz I, Haukvik UK. Hippocampal subfield and amygdala nuclei volumes in schizophrenia patients with a history of violence. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2020 Sep;270(6):771-782. doi: 10.1007/s00406-020-01098-y. PMID: 31980898; PMCID: PMC7423802.

Storvestre GB, Valnes LM, Jensen A, Nerland S, Tesli N, Hymer KE, Rosaeg C, Server A, Ringen PA, Jacobsen M, Andreassen OA, Agartz I, Melle I, Haukvik UK. A preliminary study of cortical morphology in schizophrenia patients with a history of violence. Psychiatry Res Neuroimaging. 2019 Jun 30;288:29-36. doi: 10.1016/j.pscychresns.2019.04.013. Epub 2019 May 1. PMID: 31071542.

Tesli N, Westlye LT, Storvestre GB, Gurholt TP, Agartz I, Melle I, Andreassen OA, Haukvik UK. White matter microstructure in schizophrenia patients with a history of violence. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2021 Jun;271(4):623-634. doi: 10.1007/s00406-019-00988-0. Epub 2019 Jan 29. PMID: 30694361.

References

1. Lopez A, Mathers C, Ezzati M, Jamison D, Murray C: Global and regional burden of disease and risk factors, 2001: systematic analysis of population health data. Lancet 2006; 367:1747–1757

2. Whiting D, Gulati G, Geddes JR, Fazel S. Association of Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders and Violence Perpetration in Adults and Adolescents From 15 Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. JAMA Psychiatry. 2022 Feb 1;79(2):120-132. doi: 10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.3721. PMID: 34935869; PMCID: PMC8696689.

Published Sep. 4, 2017 9:33 AM - Last modified Dec. 28, 2023 11:13 AM

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Participants

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