Assessing the risk of imminent aggression in mentally ill young offenders
Date
2014
Authors
Kasinathan, John
Marsland, Christopher
Batterham, Philip
Gaskin, Claire
Adams, Jonathon
Daffern, Michael
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Abstract
OBJECTIVES Aggression in adolescents presents a significant problem for psychiatric units. The Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression (DASA) is an empirically validated measure designed to appraise the risk of imminent aggression (within the next 24 hours) in adult patients. Our aim was to examine the predictive validity of the DASA: Youth Version (DASA:YV) with youth-specific items, in young offenders hospitalised with a mental illness. METHODS This prospective validation study involved 4440 DASA:YV ratings of mentally ill adolescents in a secure hospital. At 24 hours post-assessment, the nursing staff documented whether patients had behaved aggressively: physically, verbally or towards property. Predictive accuracy was assessed using the area under the curve (AUC) of the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS The DASA:YV significantly predicted any imminent aggression (AUC = 0.754). Additional youth-specific items conferred a greater predictive yield, as compared to adult-derived items (p = 0.014). CONCLUSIONS It is possible to monitor the risk state of hospitalised mentally ill youth, so that heightened states can be detected early, thus facilitating interventions to reduce the risk of violence.
Description
Keywords
aggression, appraisal methods, dynamic appraisal, mental illness, risk, violent behaviour, youth
Citation
Collections
Source
Australasian Psychiatry
Type
Journal article