Cognitive status and profile validity on the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in offenders with serious mental illness

Relationship between expressions of aggression and individual characteristics in correctional settings: A path analysis

BACKGROUND

The reduction of misconduct levels and its prevention are two important objectives in prison settings, for which several strategies and control mechanisms are implemented.

OBJETIVE

We explore the relationship between a set of socio-demographic, judicial, affective, and personality characteristics and various expressions of aggression.

METHOD

An Ecuadorian sample of 675 sentenced male prisoners was assessed using the Spanish adaptation of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI). Three subscales of the PAI were used as outcome measures: Aggressive Attitude (AGG-A), Verbal Aggression (AGG-V), and Physical Aggression (AGG-P).

RESULTS

Using path analysis, three models were obtained, each of which had four indicators. Borderline personality features and antisocial personality features emerged as indicators that were common to the three models. Anxiety-related disorders and non-support were indicators specific to AGG-A, whilst schizophrenia and non-support were indicators of AGG-V, and drug problems and crimes against property were indicators of AGG-P.

CONCLUSION

This study indicates that each expression of aggression has a different structure, which suggests its usefulness for detecting the tendency of an inmate to predominantly express one form of aggression or another.

WAIS-IV Performance in Patients With Schizophrenia

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) is one of the most widely used instruments to measure cognitive functioning. The aims of this study were 1) to obtain the cognitive profile of Spanish patients with schizophrenia on the WAIS-IV; 2) to compare their profile to the profile of a healthy control group; and 3) to compare the cognitive profile of patients with schizophrenia to the performance observed in two separate previous studies in Canada and China. A sample of 99 outpatients and 99 healthy control participants, matched on age, sex, and educational level, were measured using the WAIS-IV, including 10 core subtests, 4 indices, and 2 general intelligence scores, to obtain their cognitive profile. Results showed that only the performance on the Verbal Comprehension Index and its subtests was similar in the patient and control groups. This pattern of cognitive impairment was similar to the pattern reported in the Canadian and Chinese studies.