Aims and objectives. The Forensic Early Warning Signs of Aggression Inventory (FESAI) was developed to assist nurses and patients in identifying early warning signs and constructing individual early detection plans (EDP) for the prevention of aggressive incidents. The aims of this research were as follows: First, to study the prevalence of early warning signs of aggression, measured with the FESAI, in a sample of forensic patients, and second, to explore whether there are any types of warning signs typical of diagnostic subgroups or offender subgroups. Background. Reconstructing patients’ changes in behaviour prior to aggressive incidents may contribute to identify early warning signs specific to the individual patient. The EDP comprises an early intervention strategy suggested by the patient and approved by the nurses. Implementation of EDP may enhance efficient risk assessment and management. Design. An explorative design was used to review existing records and to monitor frequencies of early warning signs. Methods. Early detection plans of 171 patients from two forensic hospital wards were examined. Frequency distributions were estimated by recording the early warning signs on the FESAI. Rank order correlation analyses were conducted to compare diagnostic subgroups and offender subgroups concerning types and frequencies of warning signs. Results. The FESAI categories with the highest frequency rank were the following: (1) anger, (2) social withdrawal, (3) superficial contact and (4) non-aggressive antisocial behaviour. There were no significant differences between subgroups of patients concerning the ranks of the four categories of early warning signs. Conclusion. The results suggest that the FESAI covers very well the wide variety of occurred warning signs reported in the EDPs. No group profiles of warning signs were found to be specific to diagnosis or offence type. Relevance to clinical practice. Applying the FESAI to develop individual EDPs appears to be a promising approach to enhance risk assessment and management.
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Aggressive incidents occur frequently in health care facilities, such as psychiatric care and forensic psychiatric hospitals. Previous research suggests that civil psychiatric inpatients may display more aggression than forensic inpatients. However, there is a lack of research comparing these groups on the incident severity, even though both frequency and severity of aggression influence the impact on staff members. The purpose of this study is to compare the frequency and severity of inpatient aggression caused by forensic and civil psychiatric inpatients in the same Dutch forensic psychiatric hospital. Data on aggressive incidents occurring between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2017, were gathered from hospital files and analyzed using the Modified Overt Aggression Scale, including sexual aggression (MOAS+). Multilevel random intercept models were used to analyze differences between forensic and civil psychiatric patients in severity of aggressive incidents. In all, 3,603 aggressive incidents were recorded, caused by 344 different patients. Civil psychiatric patients caused more aggressive incidents than forensic patients and female patients caused more inpatient aggression compared with male patients. Female forensic patients were found to cause the most severe incidents, followed by female civil psychiatric patients. Male forensic patients caused the least severe incidents. The findings have important clinical implications, such as corroborating the need for an intensive treatment program for aggressive and disruptive civil psychiatric patients, as well as emphasizing the importance of gender-responsive treatment
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“Early warning signs of aggression” refers to recurring changes in behaviors, thoughts, perceptions, and feelings of the patient that are considered to be precursors of aggressive behavior. The early recognition of these signs offers possibilities for early intervention and prevention of aggressive behaviors in forensic patients. The Forensic Early warning Signs of Aggression Inventory (FESAI) was developed to assist nurses and patients in identifying and monitoring these early warning signs of aggression.
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Aims: To gain a deeper understanding of the differences in patients and staff per‐spectives in response to aggression and to explore recommendations on prevention.Design: Qualitative, grounded theory study.Methods: We conducted semi‐structured interviews with patients and nurses in‐volved in an aggressive incident. Data collection was performed from May 2016 ‐March 2017.Results: Thirty‐one interviews were conducted concerning 15 aggressive incidents.Patients and nurses generally showed agreement on the factual course of events,there was variation in agreement on the perceived severity (PS). Patients' recom‐mendations on prevention were mostly personally focussed, while nurses suggested general improvements.Conclusion: Patients are often capable to evaluate aggression and give recom‐mendations on prevention shortly after the incident. Patients and nurses differ inthe PS of aggression. Recommendations on prevention of patients and nurses arecomplementary.Impact: What problem did the study address? Perspectives of patients and nursesdiffer with respect to aggression, but how is unclear. What were the main findings?Patients and nurses generally described a similar factual course of events concern‐ing the incident, patients often perceive the severity less than nurses. Patients arecapable to give recommendations on prevention of aggressive incidents, shortly after the incident. Where and on whom will the research have impact? Factual course of events can be a common ground to start evaluating aggressive incidents and post‐incident review should address the severity of incidents. Asking recommendations
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Purpose: Estimate the effect of nursing, shift, and patient characteristics on patients' aggression. Design and Methods: Follow-up study on a closed psychiatric ward was performed to estimate the effect of nursing team characteristics and patient characteristics on the incidence of aggression. Findings: The incidence of aggression (n = 802 in sample) was lower in teams with >75% male nurses. Teams scoring high on extraversion experienced more verbal aggression and teams scoring high on neuroticism experienced more physical aggression. Younger patients and/or involuntarily admitted patients were more frequently aggressive. Practice Implications: These findings could stimulate support for nurses to prevent aggression.
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Patienten in der forensischen Psychiatrie sind während ihrer Behandlung häufig Aggressionen von Mitpatienten ausgesetzt. Uns sind jedoch keine Untersuchungen darüber bekannt, wie sich dies auf das Wohlbefinden der Patienten und den Behandlungsverlauf auswirkt. In dieser Studie befragten wir neun Patienten zu ihren Erfahrungen mit Viktimisierung während der psychiatrischen Zwangsbehandlung. Die Interviews wurden analysiert mit Hilfe eines Grounded-Theory-Ansatzes in Kombination mit Elementen der konsensuellen qualitativen Forschung und der interpretativen phänomenologischen Analyse. Aus den Daten ergaben sich drei Hauptthemen, nämlich situative Beschreibungen sowie intra- und interpersonelle Konsequenzen. Die Patienten waren nicht nur körperlicher Gewalt und verbaler Aggression durch andere Patienten ausgesetzt, sondern auch einem allgegenwärtigen Strom von mikroaggressiven Kommentaren. Die Möglichkeiten, diesen Situationen zu entkommen, waren begrenzt. Dies bedeutet, dass die Viktimisierungsprozesse, die bei den meisten Patienten bereits in einem früheren Lebensabschnitt begonnen haben, während der forensisch-psychiatrischen Behandlung fortgesetzt werden. Zu den intrapersonellen Folgen gehören Angst, Hypervigilanz, reaktive Aggression, Flashbacks sowie Vermeidungs- und Rückzugsverhalten. Zu den zwischenmenschlichen Auswirkungen zählen verstärkte Machtunterschiede zwischen den Patienten und nachteilige Behandlungsergebnisse, wie z. B. Probleme mit dem Selbstwertgefühl. Viktimisierungsprozesse werden in einem Umfeld, das sich auf die Risiken und die Behandlung von kriminellem Verhalten konzentriert, nicht immer rechtzeitig bemerkt. Daher ist ein höheres Maß an Traumasensibilität in der forensisch-psychiatrischen Versorgung erforderlich. Es werden Empfehlungen für die Umsetzung einer traumainformierten Versorgung gegeben.
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Objective. To study the prevalence, nature and determinants of aggression among inpatients with acquired brain injury. Background. Patients with acquired brain injury often have difficulty in controlling their aggressive impulses. Design. A prospective observational study design. Methods. By means of the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised, the prevalence, nature and severity of aggressive behaviour of inpatients with acquired brain injury was assessed on a neuropsychiatric treatment ward with 45 beds. Additional data on patient-related variables were gathered from the patients’ files. Results. In total, 388 aggressive incidents were recorded over 17 weeks. Of a total of 57 patients included, 24 (42%) patients had engaged in aggressive behaviour on one or more occasions. A relatively small proportion of patients (n = 8; 14%) was found to be responsible for the majority of incidents (n = 332; 86%). The vast majority of aggression incidents (n = 270; 70%) were directly preceded by interactions between patients and nursing staff. In line with this, most incidents occurred at times of high contact intensity. Aggressive behaviour was associated with male gender, length of stay at the ward, legal status and hypoxia as the cause of brain injury. Conclusion. Aggression was found to be highly prevalent among inpatients with acquired brain injury. The results suggest that for the prevention of aggression on the ward, it may be highly effective to develop individually tailored interventions for the subgroup with serious aggression problems. Relevance to clinical practice. Insight into the frequency, nature and determinants of aggressive behaviour in inpatients with acquired brain injury provides nurses with tools for the prevention and treatment of aggressive behaviour.
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Forensic psychiatric inpatients are frequently exposed to aggression from fellow patients during their treatment, but research on how this impacts patients’ well-being and treatment progress is lacking. In this study, we interviewed nine patients on their experiences of victimization during mandatory psychiatric treatment. The interviews were analyzed using a Grounded Theory approach combined with elements from Consensual Qualitative Research and Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three main themes emerged from the data, namely situational descriptives, intrapersonal and interpersonal consequences. Patients were not only exposed to both physical violence and verbal aggression by other patients, but also to a more ubiquitous flow of micro- aggressive comments. Options to escape these situations were limited. This means that victimization processes, which for most patients started much earlier in life, continue during forensic psychiatric treatment. Intrapersonal consequences include fear, hypervigilance, reactive aggression, flashbacks and avoidance and withdrawal. Interpersonal consequences include increased power differences between patients and adverse treatment consequences, such as difficulties with self-esteem. Victimization processes are not always timely noticed in an environment that focuses on risks and treatment of delinquent behavior. A higher level of trauma sensitivity in forensic mental health care is thus required. Recommendations for the implementation of trauma informed care are provided.
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Selbstverletzendes Verhalten von Patienten der forensischen Psychiatrie hinterlässt bei allen Beteiligten oft einen starken Eindruck und ist ein wichtiger Prädiktor für Gewalt gegen andere während der Behandlung. Ziel dieser Studie ist es, Selbstverletzungen von Patienten zu beschreiben, die in die forensische Psychiatrie eingewiesen wurden. Im Zeitraum von 2008 bis 2019 wurden insgesamt 299 Selbstverletzungen registriert, die von 106 Patienten während der Behandlung in einem Zentrum für forensische Psychiatrie begangen wurden. Alle aufgezeichneten Vorfälle von Selbstverletzung wurden analysiert und nach Schweregrad kodiert mit Hilfe der MOAS+. Bei der Mehrheit der Vorfälle (87,6 %) handelte es sich um selbstverletzendes Verhalten ohne Suizidabsicht. Die häufigsten Methoden waren das Schneiden mit Glas, zerbrochenem Geschirr oder einem (Rasier-)Messer und das Verschlucken gefährlicher Flüssigkeiten oder Gegenstände. Es gab 10 Selbsttötungen, die fast alle durch Erhängen mit einem Seil oder Gürtel erfolgten. Die Mehrzahl der Vorfälle wurde auf der MOAS+ als schwer oder äußerst schwer eingestuft. Weibliche Patienten verursachten im Durchschnitt dreimal so viele Vorfälle wie männliche Patienten. Die Studie zeigt, dass selbstverletzendes Verhalten in der forensischen Psychiatrie regelmäßig vorkommt und in der Regel schwerwiegend ist. Die Auswirkungen auf die Betroffenen und Zeugen der Vorfälle, die Motive und Auslöser für das selbstverletzende Verhalten und eine wirksame Behandlung sind noch zu erforschen.
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The Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability: Adolescent Version (START:AV) is a risk assessment instrument for adolescents that estimates the risk of multiple adverse outcomes. Prior research into its predictive validity is limited to a handful of studies conducted with the START:AV pilot version and often by the instrument’s developers. The present study examines the START:AV’s field validity in a secure youth care sample in the Netherlands. Using a prospective design, we investigated whether the total scores, lifetime history, and the final risk judgments of 106 START:AVs predicted inpatient incidents during a 4-month follow-up. Final risk judgments and lifetime history predicted multiple adverse outcomes, including physical aggression, institutional violations, substance use, self-injury, and victimization. The predictive validity of the total scores was significant only for physical aggression and institutional violations. Hence, the short-term predictive validity of the START:AV for inpatient incidents in a residential youth care setting was partially demonstrated and the START:AV final risk judgments can be used to guide treatment planning and decision-making regarding furlough or discharge in this setting.
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