Applicability of two violence risk assessment tools in a psychiatric prison hospital population

The risk of violent behavior is known to be higher for patients who suffer from a severe mental disorder. However, specific prediction tools for clinical work in prison psychiatry are lacking. In this single-center study, two violence risk assessment tools (Forensic Psychiatry and Violence Tool, “FoVOx,” and Mental Illness and Violence Tool, “OxMIV”) were applied to a prison hospital population with a primary psychotic or bipolar disorder and subsequently compared. The required information on all items of both tools was obtained retrospectively for a total of 339 patients by evaluation of available patient files. We obtained the median and inter-quartile range for both FoVOx and OxMIV, and their rank correlation coefficient along with 95% confidence intervals (CIs)—for the full cohort, as well as for cohort subgroups. The two risk assessment tools were strongly positively correlated (Spearman correlation = 0.83; 95% CI = 0.80–0.86). Such a high correlation was independent of nationality, country of origin, type of detention, schizophrenia-spectrum disorder, previous violent crime and alcohol use disorder, where correlations were above 0.8. A lower correlation was seen with patients who were 30 years old or more, married, with affective disorder and with self-harm behavior, and also in patients without aggressive behavior and without drug use disorder. Both risk assessment tools are applicable as an adjunct to clinical decision making in prison psychiatry.     

Implicit sequence learning in young people with Tourette syndrome with and without co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Impaired habit-learning has been proposed to underlie the tic symptoms of Tourette syndrome (TS). However, accounts differ in terms of how habit-learning is altered in TS, with some authors proposing habit formation is impaired due to a deficient ‘chunking’ mechanism, and others proposing habit-learning is overactive and tics reflect hyperlearned behaviours. Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) frequently co-occurs with TS and is known to affect cognitive function in young people with co-occurring TS and ADHD (TS + ADHD). It is unclear, however, how co-occurring ADHD symptoms affect habit-learning in TS. In this study, we investigated whether young people with TS would show deficient or hyperactive habit-learning, and assessed the effects of co-occurring ADHD symptoms on habit-learning in TS. Participants aged 9–17 years with TS (n = 18), TS + ADHD (n = 17), ADHD (n = 13), and typical development (n = 20) completed a motor sequence learning task to assess habit-learning. We used a 2 (TS-yes, TS-no) × 2 (ADHD-yes, ADHD-no) factorial analysis to test the effects of TS, ADHD, and their interaction on accuracy and reaction time indices of sequence learning. TS was associated with intact sequence learning, but a tendency for difficulty transitioning from sequenced to non-sequenced performance was suggestive of hyper-learning. ADHD was associated with significantly poorer accuracy during acquisition of the sequence, indicative of impaired habit-learning. There were no interactions between the TS and ADHD factors, indicating young people with TS + ADHD showed both TS- and ADHD-related atypicalities in habit-learning.     

Metacognition during unfamiliar face matching

Kruger and Dunning (1999) described a metacognitive bias in which insight into performance is linked to competence: poorer performers are less aware of their mistakes than better performers. Competence-based insight has been argued to apply generally across task domains, including a recent report investigating social cognition using a variety of face-matching tasks. Problematically, serious statistical and methodological criticisms have been directed against the traditional method of analysis used by researchers in this field. Here, we further illustrate these issues and investigate new sources of insight within unfamiliar face matching. Over two experiments (total N = 1077), where Experiment 2 was a preregistered replication of the key findings from Experiment 1, we found that insight into performance was multi-faceted. Participants demonstrated insight which was not based on competence, in the form of accurate updating of estimated performance. We also found evidence of insight which was based on competence: the difference in confidence on correct versus incorrect trials increased with competence. By providing ways that we can move beyond problematic, traditional approaches, we have begun to reveal a more realistic story regarding the nature of insight into face perception.     

Aggression as One Response to Conflict1

This paper presents two studies that explore the link between self-reported conflict management strategies and aggression. It was predicted that conflict strategies involving concern for the needs of the other would be inconsistent with aggressive behavior. On the other hand, conflict strategies that involve coercion and domination were predicted to be positively related to aggressive behavior. Studies using self-report and behavioral measures of aggression provide support for these predictions.     

Effects of physical exercise on peripheral vision and learning in children with spina bifida manifesta

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effects of active exercise of the arms on various physiological, perceptual, and cognitive parameters of children with spina bifida manifesta who were aged 9 to 12 yr. Following a 5-min. rest interval, subjects were either not exercised (control days) for a 6-min. period or were exercised (experimental days) for a 6-min. period. Cardiac measures, respiratory function, peripheral vision, and figural learning trials were recorded after exercise. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed rank tests were computed on the means of the exercise and no-exercise conditions for each measure. Six minutes of active exercise resulted in significant increases in peripheral vision, respiratory and cardiac measures and significant decreases in figural learning trials for these children. A floor effect was noted for the figural learning test. It was concluded that exercise increased blood flow through the lungs allowing for greater oxygen diffusion in the brain and other facilitatory effects resulting in more effective cerebral activity. Curriculum revisions for such children seem to indicate the importance of activity in facilitating subsequent learning.     

Validation of the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale-Brief in Two Large Samples

This study reports on an initial examination of the construct validity of the Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale-Brief (MSS-B) and the first investigation of its psychometric properties outside of its derivation samples. The MSS-B contains 38 items that assess positive, negative, and disorganized schizotypy and has comparable content coverage and psychometric properties as the original 77-item Multidimensional Schizotypy Scale. Two large samples (n?=?1430 and 1289) completed the MSS-B, as well as measures of schizotypal personality traits and the Five-Factor Model of Personality. MSS-B scores were computed from the full-length scale in sample 1, whereas participants in sample 2 were administered the MSS-B. The psychometric properties and intercorrelations of the MSS-B subscales were consistent with findings from the original derivation samples, with no shrinkage in reliability. In terms of relations with schizotypal traits, the MSS-B positive schizotypy dimension had its strongest association with cognitive-perceptual schizotypal traits, MSS-B negative schizotypy had its strongest association with interpersonal schizotypal traits, and MSS-B disorganized schizotypy had its strongest association with disorganized schizotypal traits. The schizotypy dimensions were characterized by hypothesized patterns of distinct associations with the Five-Factor Model. The present findings are consistent with results from the full-scale MSS.     

University Support for Student Volunteering in England: Historical Development and Contemporary Value

This article draws on a major study of student volunteering based on case studies of six Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) selected to represent the diversity of the higher education sector in England. The study finds that students contribute significantly to university life and to the wider community through both formal and informal volunteering. However in this paper we consider the challenges and problems with the organisation of student volunteering. Our research finds that students who were supported by their university to volunteer reported better experiences of volunteering and identified greater impacts on their personal development, soft skills, employability and community awareness. In this paper we challenge the tendency of some policy makers and practitioners to view student volunteering as an automatic ‘win, win, win’—for students, for universities and for communities. Rather we explore how without adequate support, management and opportunities for reflection and placing volunteering in wider social context, student volunteering can fail to benefit any of these groups. The paper outlines the development of institutional support for volunteering by students before assessing the value such support has for student volunteers today.