Identifying predictors of inpatient verbal aggression in a forensic psychiatric setting using a tree-based modeling approach

Inpatient violence poses a great risk to the health and well-being of other patients and members of staff. Previous research has shown that prevalence rates of violent behavior are particularly high in forensic psychiatric settings. Thus, the reliable identification of forensic inpatients who are pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Neumann, Merten (Author) ; Klatt, Thimna (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Published: September 2022
In: Journal of interpersonal violence
Year: 2022, Volume: 37, Issue: 17/18, Pages: NP16351-NP16376
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Keywords:
Geistesstörung
Psychische Störung
Gerichtliche Psychiatrie
Forensic psychiatry
tree-based modeling
random forest
verbal aggression
Mental Illness
Description
Summary:Inpatient violence poses a great risk to the health and well-being of other patients and members of staff. Previous research has shown that prevalence rates of violent behavior are particularly high in forensic psychiatric settings. Thus, the reliable identification of forensic inpatients who are particularly at risk for violent behavior is an important aspect of risk management. In the present study, we analyzed clinicians’ assessments of N = 504 male and female inpatients of German forensic mental health institutions in order to identify risk factors for verbal institutional violence. Using a tree-based modeling approach, we found the following variables to be predictors of verbal aggression: gender, insight into the illness, number of prior admissions to psychiatric hospitals, and insight into the iniquity of the offence. A high number of prior admissions to psychiatric hospitals seems to be a risk factor for verbal aggression amongst men whereas it showed the opposite effect amongst women. Our results highlight the importance of dynamic risk factors, such as poor insight into the own illness, in the prediction of violent incidents. With regard to future research, we argue for a stronger emphasis on nonparametric models as well as on potential interaction effects of risk and protective factors.
Item Description:Literaturverzeichnis
Physical Description:Diagramme
ISSN:1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/08862605211021972