| Summary: | There is empirical support for an association between childhood adverse events and psychopathology in adult offenders. This systematic review aims to summarise the literature that measures the predictive value of history of abuse on mental illness and personality disorders in prisoners in custody. Thirty studies were identified. The studies examined a total of 11,427 participants (8,990 males, 2,437 females). The number of offenders in each study ranged from 47 to 3,986. Childhood abuse and neglect were primarily examined. There was support that these subtypes are associated with several psychiatric disorders. Additionally, there were differences across male and female offenders both in terms of the numbers of studies that looked at specific psychopathologies, and the associations between adversity and future psychiatric difficulties. Methodological considerations, future research, and clinical implications are discussed.
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