Risk Factors and Risk-Based Protective Factors for Violent Offending: A Study of Young Victorians

Prevalence of psychiatric disorders among sentenced prisoners in a medium security prison in Ghana: Implications for mental health assessment and service

BACKGROUND

Extant literature has shown that there is a higher prevalence of mental disorders among prisoners compared to the general population. These findings have, however, mostly been from high-income and westernised cultures. In Ghana, little is known about the extent of psychiatric disorders among prisoners, as is consistent with the dearth of scholarly work in low and middle-income countries.

AIMS

Our aim was to determine the prevalence of common mental disorders among sentenced prisoners in the second largest prison in Ghana.

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey research design was used in one prison. The Mini International Neuro-Psychiatric Interview questionnaire was used to collect data from men and women serving prison sentences who volunteered for the study. Socio-demographic characteristics and criminal history data were collected using a questionnaire designed by the researchers.

RESULTS

Five hundred prisoners participated. Nearly half (246, 49.8%) had at least one psychiatric disorder. The most prevalent disorders were major depression and a range of anxiety disorders (145, 29%, 132, 26% respectively). A smaller proportion recorded high scores on the antisocial personality disorder scale (13%); just 50 (10%) reported using substances in the 12 months before interview, but this is a minimum estimate of such problems as many were already in prison during that time. None of these prisoners, regardless of disorder, had been screened, diagnosed, or treated in prison.

CONCLUSIONS

This study contributes to the gap in scholarly literature in low- and middle-income countries on psychiatric disorders in the prison population. It will be important to explore further the extent to which the internationally recognised screening tools used led to under-estimation of psychiatric disorders. The findings are of immediate practical importance nationally as they highlight the need to implement reforms anticipated by the new mental health legislation of 2012 and strategies for interagency working to improve health services and their uptake in the criminal justice system.

Socioeconomic Effects in Cyberbullying: Global Research Trends in the Educational Context

Nowadays, cyberbullying has become a problem of social harassment in numerous educational centres worldwide. New communication technologies have provided the perfect support for the development of this type of harassment in peer relationships, in addition to being linked to broad social and economic circumstances. In this study, the global trends of the socioeconomic implications of cyberbullying in the educational context have been analysed, from 2004 to 2019. Thus, a bibliometric analysis has been applied to 1128 articles, obtaining results of the evolution of scientific activity in this period. The articles are mainly associated with the thematic areas of Social Sciences, Psychology, Medicine and Computer Science. Seven main thematic axes have been detected, highlighting those related to the psychological aspect, adolescence, and the school environment. Likewise, the link of the main authors, institutions, and countries to these lines of research has been detected. The evidence has shown the interest and relevance of this topic at the international level. Future research lines propose different analyses about how certain socioeconomic factors influence this psychological harassment inside and outside the classroom.

Reciprocal associations between early adolescent antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms: A longitudinal study in Victoria, Australia and Washington State, United States

PURPOSE

Reciprocal prospective associations between adolescent antisocial behavior and depressive symptoms were examined.

METHODS

Seventh grade students (average age 13 years; N=2,314/2,348) were surveyed (T1), and then followed-up 12 (T2) and 24 months (T3) later, using the same methods in Washington State and Victoria, Australia.

RESULTS

Negative binomial regressions showed antisocial behavior (T1, T2) did not prospectively predict depressive symptoms (T2, T3). T1 multivariate predictors for T2 depressive symptoms included female gender (incident rate ratio [IRR] = 1.70), prior depressive symptoms (IRR = 1.06), alcohol use (IRR = 1.13), family conflict (IRR = 1.13), antisocial peers (IRR = 1.08) and bullying victimization (IRR = 1.06). Depressive symptoms (T1, T2) did not predict antisocial behavior (T2, T3). T1 multivariate predictors for T2 antisocial behavior included female gender (IRR = .96), age (IRR = .97), prior antisocial behavior (IRR = 1.32), alcohol use (IRR = 1.04), antisocial peers (IRR = 1.11) and academic failure (IRR = 1.03).

CONCLUSIONS

Depressive symptoms and antisocial behaviors showed considerable predictive stability in early adolescence but were not reciprocally related. Prevention and intervention strategies in adolescence may benefit by targeting common predictors such as alcohol, peer interactions and early symptoms for depression and antisocial behavior.