Violence by Psychiatric Patients: The Impact of Archival Measurement Source on Violence Prevalence and Risk Assessment Accuracy
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-1-2003
Keywords
Violence assessment, Violence Prediction, Risk Assessment, Prevalence, phychiatric patients, civil commitment, measurement, methodology, psychopathy, HCR-20, PLC, SV
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177/070674370304801105
Abstract
Objective: This study examined the impact of using various archival sources of violence data on the recorded base rate of violence and on the accuracy of violence risk assessments in a sample of civil psychiatric patients. Method: Violence in the community, after release from involuntary hospitalization, was measured with 3 types of archival data: criminal records, psychiatric hospital readmission records, and readmission records from multiple general hospitals. Results: Findings indicated that the different measurement sources each identified unique incidents of violence, which were correlated moderately or not at all with one another, and that the estimated base rate of violence varied substantially as a function of outcome source. Not surprisingly, using a combination of sources identified the highest base rate of violence. Predictive validity estimates also varied widely under different measurement procedures and were more stable when a combination of sources was used. Conclusions: It is important in practical and research terms for studies of psychiatric patient violence to use multiple sources of outcome data.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, v. 48, issue 11, p. 734-740
Scholar Commons Citation
Douglas, Kevin S. and Ogloff, James R.P., "Violence by Psychiatric Patients: The Impact of Archival Measurement Source on Violence Prevalence and Risk Assessment Accuracy" (2003). Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications. 229.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/mhlp_facpub/229
