Summer Has Arrived in Iowa!!
What Should You Expect as a Psychiatrist?
Continued
An analysis of publicly available crime statistics from Des Moines, Iowa showed that an increase in
ambient temperature and humidity can indeed increase in frequency of violent crime. Frequency of
aggravated assault was analyzed against maximum and mean ambient temperature for the three urban
ZIP-codes (50309, 50310 and 50311), using crime data for July 2005 to October 2011 (2313 days)
obtained from Des Moines Police Department. There was a linear increase in number of aggravated
assaults per day (see graph) and the percentage of related crime days steadily increased across
maximum temperature quartiles (26.4%, 30.0%, 37.0% and 39.1% from lowest to highest maximum
temperature quartile respectively with p<0.01)4. There was a similar linear increase with mean
temperature quartiles (p<0.01) where the percentage of aggravated assaults differed by quartile though
not in the same linear pattern 4. The lowest humidity quartile had only 12.0% of aggravated assault
crime days compared to 36.3%, 33.7%, and 37.5% for each increasing quartile (2=9.4, df=3, p=.025)4.
This analysis of local data generally in line with aforementioned data suggests that we may indeed
expect more aggressive or violent behaviors in the season ahead.
Figure 1 4:
The utility of this information may extend beyond law enforcement preparedness. With daily
temperatures soon to be rising this summer, in addition to keeping general psychiatric issues in mind, it
is also important for the psychiatrists to be prepared for any aggressive tendencies in their patients that
can trigger violence. While behavioral problems arising from unstructured summer can be addressed by
parents through talking to their children about shared goals during summer and providing some
structure, it is also helpful to encourage them be active, limit the time spent with electronic devices,
encourage regular exercise, maintain adequate sleep, and continue to regularly take their medicines, if
applicable1. In heeding the risk associated with changes in temperature and routine, we hope you are
prepared for the season ahead, whatever it may bring.
REFERENCES:
1.
Weaver, R. (2012). Dealing with Mental Health Issues During the Summer.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/mental-health-summer-depression-adhd-0430125/
2.
Peterson, BS., Zhang, H., Santa Lucia, R., King, RA., Lewis, M. (1996). Risk factors for
presenting problems in child psychiatric emergencies. J Am Acad Child Adolesc
Psychiatry, 35(9), 1162-73
3.
Anderson, C. A., Deuser, W, E., DeNeve, K, M. (1995). Hot Temperatures, Hostile Affect,
Hostile Cognition, and Arousal: Tests of a General Model of Affective Aggression. Society for
Personality and Social Psychology, Inc., 21(5), 434-448.
Janusz, C., Yarlagadda, K., Ndukwe, N., Radhakrishnan, A., Ciccone, D., Taneli, T. (2012).
Ambient Temperature and Humidity Influence Criminal Behavior. 64thInstitute on Psychiatric
Services. Annual meeting, Poster (PS6-20).
4.