Using dynamic risk and protective factors to predict inpatient aggression: Reliability and validity of START assessments

The Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START; C. D. Webster, M. L. Martin, J. Brink, T. L. Nicholls, & S. L. Desmarais, 2009; C. D. Webster, M. L. Martin, J. Brink, T. L. Nicholls, & C. Middleton, 2004) is a relatively new structured professional judgment guide for the assessment and management of short-term risks associated with mental, substance use, and personality disorders. The scheme may be distinguished from other violence risk assessment instruments because of its inclusion of 20 dynamic factors that are rated in terms of both vulnerability and strength. This study examined the reliability and validity of START assessments in predicting inpatient aggression. Research assistants completed START assessments for 120 male forensic psychiatric patients through review of hospital files. They also completed Historical-Clinical-Risk Management-20 (HCR-20; C. D. Webster, K. S. Douglas, D. Eaves, & S. D. Hart, 1997) and Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995) assessments. Outcome data were coded from hospital files for a 12-month follow-up period using the Overt Aggression Scale (OAS; S. C. Yudofsky, J. M. Silver, W. Jackson, J. Endicott, & D. W. Williams, 1986). START assessments evidenced excellent interrater reliability and demonstrated both predictive and incremental validity over the HCR-20 Historical subscale scores and PCL:SV total scores. Overall, results support the reliability and validity of START assessments and use of the structured professional judgment approach more broadly, as well as the value of using dynamic risk and protective factors to assess violence risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).     

QUANTITATIVE AND/OR QUALITATIVE METHODS IN THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF RELIGION

Abstract. Qualitative research methods are essential to provide richness, but they are vulnerable to distortion of data by theory. The quantitative approach is necessary for the precision of hypothesis testing, but, by itself, this method is too critical to be creative. Religious studies should use both methods in alternate phases, with the qualitative approach creating new hypotheses and the quantitative approach critically testing them.     

Assessment of depression in college students: Geriatric Depression Scale versus Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale.

103 college students took the Geriatric Depression Scale and Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale along with five measures of life satisfaction. The correlation between scores on the first scales was .66. Both depression scales had moderate negative correlations (-.34 to -.71) with each measure of life satisfaction. However, on every measure of life satisfaction, the correlation with scores on the Geriatric Depression Scale was higher than with those on the CES-Depression Scale.     

What is the diplopia threshold?

The magnitude and nature of the diplopia threshold, that is, the value of the retinal disparity at which binocular single vision ends, were studied in four experiments. The results show that the magnitude of the diplopia threshold is highly dependent on the subject tested (differences up to a factor of 6), the amount of training the subject has received (differences up to a factor of 2.5), the criterion used for diplopia (limits for unequivocal singleness of vision were up to a factor of 3 lower than those for unequivocal doubleness of vision), and the conspicuousness of disparity that can be influenced both by the surrounding stimuli (differences up to a factor of 3.5) and stereoscopic depth (differences up to a factor of 4.5). Our data do not confirm previous findings of interference effects associated with the initial appearance of binocular disparity when test stimuli are presented tachistoscopically. A remarkable finding was that the magnitude of the diplopia threshold seems to be determined by the amount of intrinsic noise in the disparity domain, as revealed by the standard deviations of the thresholds for tachistoscopically presented test stimuli. The overall results suggest that the diplopia threshold is, in essence, not the rigid boundary of a dead zone, but, rather, a disparity level corresponding to a lenient criterion for singleness of vision which leads touseful interpretation of the percept of the stimulus without disparity, given the variability of this percept due to intrinsic noise in the disparity domain.     

You never know where you are going until you know where you have been: Disorganized search after stroke

Disorders in spatial exploration can be expressed in a disorganized fashion of target cancellation. There is debate regarding whether disorganized search is related to stroke in general, to right brain damage or to unilateral spatial neglect (USN) in particular. In this study, 280 stroke patients and 37 healthy control subjects performed a computerized shape cancellation test. We investigated the number of perseverations and several outcome measures regarding disorganized search: Consistency of search direction (best r), distance between consecutive cancelled targets and intersections with paths between previous cancelled targets. We compared performance between patients with left and right brain damage (L, R) and with and without USN (USN+, USN?), resulting in four subgroups: LUSN?, RUSN?, LUSN+, and RUSN+. Higher numbers of intersections were found for the left brain‐ and right brain‐damaged patients with USN and for the right brain‐damaged patients without USN, compared to healthy control subjects. Furthermore, right brain‐damaged patients with USN showed a higher number of intersections compared to right brain‐damaged patients without USN and compared to left brain‐damaged patients with USN. To conclude, disorganized search was most strongly related to the neglect syndrome, and patients with more severe USN were even more impaired.     

Infants' use of social partnerships to predict behavior

The experiences of social partners are important motivators of social action. Can infants use such experiences to make predictions about how social agents will behave? Sixteen‐month‐old infants were introduced to two social pairs. Initial events established within‐pair cooperation as well as between‐pair conflict involving an individual from each pair. Following these events, infants looked longer when between‐pair members who had never previously interacted now cooperated – instead of conflicted – with each other. Thus, infants tracked the third‐person allegiances and inferred that the conflict would generalize across social partnerships. These findings demonstrate a critical feature of early social cognition and promote needed, further research on the role of social allegiances in social cognition across development.