Citation

Nicholls TL, Ogloff JRP, Douglas KS. Behav. Sci. Law 2004; 22(1): 127-158.

Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. tnichola@sfu.ca

Copyright

(Copyright © 2004, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/bsl.579

PMID

14963884

Abstract

This study evaluated the predictive validity of violence risk assessments conducted using the HCR-20, the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), and by the Violence Screening Checklist (VSC) in a sample of 268 involuntarily hospitalized male and female psychiatric patients. Information pertaining to violence and crime was coded from medical charts and correctional records. The HCR-20/PCL:SV evidenced modest non-significant associations in postdictive assessments of inpatient violence among men. Moderate to strong significant associations were found between the HCR-20/PCL:SV and inpatient violence among women. Pseudo-prospective assessments using the HCR-20 and PCL:SV resulted in moderate to large relationships with violence and crime in men and women following community discharge. It is concluded that the VSC is a promising tool for assessing acute inpatient violence risk with men. Findings offer preliminary validation of the predictive validity of the HCR-20 and PCL:SV with female civil psychiatric patients.

Language: en