[The impact of religiousness on the attitude towards aggression and on aggressive behavior in a forensic-psychiatric inpatient sample]. / Der Einfluss von Religiosität auf die Einstellung gegenüber Aggression und auf aggressives Verhalten von forensisch-psychiatrischen Patienten.

AIM OF STUDY: According to previous research, religiousness might have a positive effect on the risk of delinquent behavior. This study aims to examine this correlation in a forensic-psychiatric inpatient sample. Furthermore, it compares self-reported aggression with the individuals' criminal history of violent offending. METHOD: The study sample consisted of 84 forensic patients in mandatory drug treatment according to section 64 of the German Penal Code. Religiousness and attitude towards aggressive behavior were assessed by self-report. The participants' criminal history was screened for violent offences. RESULTS: In the male forensic-psychiatric inpatient sample, higher levels of religiousness correlated negatively with the attitude towards appetitive aggression, but not with aggressive behavior. In the female sample, no significant correlation was found. CONCLUSION: We found a gender difference regarding the correlation of religiousness with the attitude towards aggression. Additionally, our results indicated a discrepancy between self-report of aggression and actual behavior in the sample of forensic-psychiatric inpatients. This might be explained by cognitive distortions, poor self-perception, or planning deficits.

Self-aggression, reactive aggression, and spontaneous aggression: Mediating effects of self-esteem and psychopathology.

This study examined whether the associations between self-aggression and different forms of externalized aggression (reactive and spontaneous aggression) are influenced by self-esteem and current psychopathological symptoms. For this purpose, we asked 681 participants from the general population (GP) and 282 general psychiatric patients (PPs) to answer the German versions of the Short Questionnaire for Assessing Factors of Aggression (K-FAF), the Multidimensional Self-Esteem Scale (MSWS), and the Brief Symptom Inventory 25 Forensic (BSI-25-F). Statistically, we performed descriptive and mediation analyses. Our findings indicated that in both samples the association between self-aggression and reactive aggression was mediated by self-esteem but not by current psychological problems. The association between self-aggression and spontaneous aggression was mediated by self-esteem in the GP sample and by psychopathological symptoms in the PP sample. We conclude that when examining the association between self-aggression and externalized aggression it is important to consider the various subtypes of externalized aggression and differences between populations.

The Therapeutic Relationship in Forensic and General Psychiatric Settings.

INTRODUCTION: Therapeutic relationship in forensic psychiatry is believed to be affected by the coercive setting and the role conflict of the therapists as both treaters and court-appointed experts. The aim of the study was to examine and compare the therapeutic relationship in forensic and general psychiatric settings. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 52 forensic patients and 66 general psychiatric patients filled in the Psychopathy Personality Inventory - Revised (PPI-R), the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems - German Version (IIP-D), the Questionnaire on Motivation for Psychotherapy (Fragebogen zur Erfassung der Psychotherapiemotivation (FPTM)) as well as the Working Alliance Inventory - Short Revised (WAI-SR). We applied descriptive analyses, calculated univariate t-tests as well as multivariate T-tests and performed general linear models. RESULTS: The quality of the therapeutic alliance does not differ significantly between forensic and general psychiatric patients. Moreover, patients of forensic psychiatry consider therapeutic techniques applied by their therapists as more valuable for achieving their therapeutic aims than patients of the general psychiatry. DISCUSSION: The therapeutic relationship in forensic psychiatry is as viable as in general psychiatry. This can be regarded as a result of the long-term therapy in the context of forensic psychiatry which allows more time to be spent on relationship building than in a general psychiatry setting where therapy is limited to a few weeks.

[Self-Aggression as Mediator between Depression and Aggression]. / Selbstaggression als Mediator zwischen Depression und Aggressivität.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between depression, self-aggression and externalized aggression. METHODS: In order to check a possible mediator effect of self-aggression on the relationship between depression and externalized aggression, we investigated a clinical sample of patients diagnosed with major depression (n = 134) and conducted a mediator analysis. RESULTS: Self-aggression mediated the relationship of depression and externalized aggression in terms of a total mediator effect. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with major depression tend to exhibit both, self-aggression and externalized aggression equally.

Neuropsychological profile of pedophilic child sexual offenders compared with an IQ-matched non-offender sample - Results of a pilot study.

Child sexual offenders have been found to have a lower average IQ than the general population. Several studies indicate that they also exhibit executive dysfunction, but the specificity of this dysfunction is unclear; the inconclusive results have been attributed to methodological problems and the heterogeneity of the population. Our study aimed to describe the neuropsychological profiles of convicted child sexual offenders with pedophilia (n = 15). To control for IQ-related effects on neuropsychological performance, we compared the sample with an IQ-matched control group (n = 15). Test scores in both groups were significantly lower than the norms, but we did not find significant differences between the two study groups. The findings of our pilot study indicate that the neuropsychological deficits of pedophilic sexual offenders are unspecific rather than the result of a pedophilia-specific brain dysfunction.

High Quality of Life Reduces Depression, Hopelessness, and Suicide Ideations in Patients in Forensic Psychiatry.

BACKGROUND: Suicides are more common in forensic patients than in the general population. Two reasons for this discrepancy are discussed: (1) Suicides are the consequence of maladaptation to the restrictive living conditions in forensic psychiatry, and (2) suicides are explained by the demographic, social, and psychosocial characteristics of the inmates themselves, i.e., suicides happen because the inmates belong to a particularly vulnerable group. Therefore, the present study aimed to analyze the relationship between quality of life, as an indicator of the restrictive living conditions, and hopelessness, depression, and suicide ideations in a sample of forensic patients. METHODS: We assessed quality of life with a German version of the Measuring the Quality of Prison Life questionnaire that had been adapted to forensic hospitals (MQPL-forensic) and depressive symptoms with the Beck Depression Inventory, hopelessness with the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and suicide ideations with the Beck Scale for Suicide Ideation. The study included a total of 159 patients in 12 German forensic psychiatric hospitals who had been admitted in accordance with Section 64 of the German Criminal Code. We analyzed the relationships between quality of life and depression, hopelessness, and suicide ideations on the patient and hospital levels. Hospital characteristics were generated by aggregating the MQPL-forensic variables measured at the patient level. RESULTS: In generalized estimating equation models, the MQPL-forensic total score and almost all the subscale scores were significant negative predictors of depressive symptoms, hopelessness, and suicide ideations at the patient and hospital levels. At the patient level, patients who experienced a supportive welcome at the hospital, good relationships with their therapists, respectful interactions, transparent decisions, and supportive therapeutic approaches were significantly less depressed, less hopeless, and less likely to consider suicide. At the hospital level, good relationships with therapists and respectful interactions were significant negative predictors of these variables. DISCUSSION: The results indicate that the social framework within forensic psychiatric hospitals influences the frequency of suicide ideation and the severity of depressive symptoms and hopelessness among forensic patients. Forensic-psychiatric hospitals should be aware of these significant relationships and try to improve patients' quality of life.

[Who Benefits from Forensic Psychiatric Treatment? Results of a Catamnestic Study in Swabia]. / Wer profitiert von einer Behandlung im Maßregelvollzug? Ergebnisse einer bayernweiten Katamnesestudie für den Bezirk Schwaben.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of treatment outcomes of forensic inpatients in the Bavarian district of Swabia (2010 - 2014). METHODS: 130 inpatients were interviewed about their social reintegration, substance use and delinquency immediately after discharge from forensic psychiatry and one year after. RESULTS: One year after discharge 67 % of the patients referred due to substance use disorder according to §â€Š64 of the German Penal Code were employed, 57 % were abstinent and 83 % did not reoffend. Patients who were detained due to severe mental illness according to §â€Š63 of the German Penal Code often received inability pensions (57 %), 14 % were integrated in sheltered workshops and 100 % did not reoffend. CONCLUSION: Forensic-psychiatric treatment contributes to rehabilitation and reduces risk factors of mentally disordered offenders.