Investigated the factors associated with developing a new episode of psychiatric disorder during imprisonment among 142 sentenced male prisoners in Dubai (United Arab Emirates) to determine factors that are suggestive of more vulnerability for suffering a psychiatric disorder in prison. Ss were interviewed by a psychiatrist who administered the CIS and the CAGE questionnaires, documented self-reported substance misuse, and made a clinical ICD-10 diagnosis when appropriate. Ten variables were selected for testing their association with developing psychiatric disorders in 2 groups, one with and without identified psychiatric diagnoses. Mild mental retardation proved to be the only factor associated with the development of new episodes of psychiatric disorder on imprisonment. Results also showed that drug offense was also a factor that was significantly associated with developing a new episode of psychiatric disorder among this population.