Research claims low heart rate in women corresponds with criminal activity

A low resting heart rate in women is associated with higher criminality and “unintentional injuries”, new research has found.

It’s the first time the correspondence has been shown in women, although it has been previously established in studies focused on men.

Sofi Oskarsson of Orebro University and Sweden led the new study, along with her colleagues, involving 12,500 Swedish women who volunteered for military service at around 18 years old.

They recorded resting heart rate and blood pressure, and also tracked records for violent and non-violent criminal offences and unintentional injuries for up to 40 years.

Female conscripts with the lowest resting heart rates (under 69 beats per minute) had a 35 per cent higher risk for any criminal conviction compared to those with rates above 83 bpm.

However, no significant associations were found for violent crime.

Lower resting heart rates were also associated with an increased risk of unintentional injuries, which in past research has been interpreted as potentially reflecting fearlessness and stimulation-seeking tendencies.

Additionally, the team found a significant association between blood pressure and violent crime, but no significant association was found for non-violent crime.

The authors state that low autonomic nervous system arousal might drive stimulation-seeking tendencies, but that their findings should be interpreted with caution.

“Our research reveals a compelling link between lower resting heart rate and an elevated risk of criminality and unintentional injuries among female conscripts,” the authors said.

“This association, previously underscored primarily in men, paves way for innovative strategies predicting crime risk among women.”