Custodial interrogation: What are the background factors associated with claims of false confession to police?

The aim of this paper is to investigate the association between an alleged false confession during custodial interrogation and reported adverse life events, substance abuse problems, self-harm behaviour, and previous psychological/ psychiatric treatment. A total of 1896 students in further education in Iceland ( aged 15 - 24 years), who had reported an experience of police interrogation, completed a detailed questionnaire about their background, substance abuse, and psychological/ psychiatric treatment. Of the 1896 participants, 138 (7.3%) claimed to have made a false confession to the police. Out of 27 variables entered into a logistic regression analysis, eight significant predictor variables were identified in the model. These were largely associated with multiple victimisation ( e. g., bullying, death of a significant other, being a victim of violence) and substance abuse (i.e., having attended substance abuse treatment, use of LSD). The findings suggest that multiple exposures to unpleasant or traumatic life events are associated with the reporting of false confessions during interrogation.