Psychopathic criminals commit more crimes, are more prone to recidivism, and more likely to engage in violent crimes and other aggressive behavior than nonpsychopathic criminals. Less is known about forensic patients, both with and without psychopathy, and their aggression. In the current study, patients in a maximum security hospital were examined with respect to their psychopathy and its predictive value on institutional management and dangerousness. In this regard, the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) and the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R) have proven to be valid and reliable measures of psychopathy. The present study was an attempt to establish predictive validity for a new version: the Psychopathy Checklist Screening Version (PCLSV). As such, this study examined the PCL-SV's relationship to (a) diagnoses of Antisocial Personality Disorder according to DSM-III-R criteria and (b) the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) Aggression, Drug Problems, and Antisocial Features scales. The influence of major Axis I disorders on the assessment of psychopathy with the PCLSV was also examined. Participants were 150 male forensic psychiatric patients at Vernon State Hospital who were committed for various reasons: incompetence to stand trial, initial evaluation and treatment after having been found not guilty by reason of insanity, and manifest dangerousness. Chart reviews were completed for a six month follow-up period during which all instances of aggressive or socially disruptive behaviors were recorded. Results supported the predictive validity of the PCL-SV as a measure of psychopathy for aggression and treatment noncompliance. Unexpected findings among correlations of the PCL-SV with the PAI Antisocial Features scale were examined and discussed. A review of the costs and benefits of the PCL-SV in clinical decision making is presented and the clinical utility of the present findings is discussed.

Psychopathy has long been lauded as a premier predictor of negative behavioral outcomes because of its demonstrated associations with violence, antisocial conduct, and institutional maladjustment. Traditional conceptualizations of psychopathy highlight the relatively equal importance placed on personality features (i.e., a grandiose, deceitful interpersonal style and deficits in affective experience) and behavioral elements (i.e., an impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle marked by social deviance) of the syndrome. However, little research to date has investigated psychopathy dimensions in female samples, particularly as they relate to maladaptive behaviors beyond forensic settings. The current study comprehensively examined personality (i.e., Axis II Cluster B traits and alexithymia) and behavioral (i.e., suicide-related behavior and aggression) expressions of psychopathy in a sample of female inpatients recruited from trauma and dual-diagnosis units at a psychiatric hospital in Dallas, Texas. Contrary to expectations, the essential components of psychopathy in female psychiatric patients emphasized APD and NPD traits over features of HPD and BPD, which were relatively similar to elements traditionally highlighted in male psychopathy. On this point, two latent dimensions comprehensively addressed female psychopathy in the current sample: impulsive antisociality and narcissistic and histrionic interpersonal style. Interestingly, psychopathy (M r = .01) and Cluster B traits (M r = .05) were virtually unrelated to suicide-related behavior in female patients with trauma and substance use histories, but APD and BPD traits were more discerning for impulsive and premeditated aggression than variants of psychopathy. Aggression's relationship to BPD traits is at least partially mediated by alexithymia. These results are discussed in terms of improving evaluation and intervention efforts aimed at identifying and managing psychopathic females beyond forensic settings.

Violence is a serious health concern on and around college campuses in the United States. While spirituality is associated with health-related issues, little is known regarding its association with aggression among college students. Cross-sectional associations between forgiveness and aggression were examined among college students in Southern Appalachia (n = 494; ♀ = 74%; M age = 22). Using multiple regression analyses and independent of demographic variables and religiousness, forgiveness of self and forgiveness of others but not feeling forgiven by God, were associated with lower levels of a variety of forms of aggression, with mostly medium effect sizes.

The relationship between teachers and students plays a critical role in the psychosocial development of children and youth. Bronfrenbrenner’s (2006) bioecological model of development and Bowlby’s (1969) attachment theory have been used to understand both the negative effects of peer aggression and the positive potential of social contexts to prevent harms related to aggression among students. Literature shows that teacher-student relationships that are characterized by higher levels of closeness and support are linked to decreases in bullying behaviour and victimization, whereas increased conflict and less support in teacher-student relationships have been found to result in increased bullying perpetration and victimization among students. While the literature suggests trends regarding the association between teacher-student relationship quality and peer aggression prevalence, there remains limited understanding as to the size and direction of the effect. The present meta-analysis synthesizes a substantial body of research examining the association between teacher-student relationship quality and peer aggression in school. A systematic search was conducted using literature from PsycINFO, ERIC, Education Source, and ProQuest (theses and dissertations). Quantitative cross-sectional and longitudinal studies that measured the association between teacher-student relationship quality (i.e., in terms of closeness and conflict) and peer aggression (i.e., perpetration and victimization) were included in the analysis. Additionally, grade level, informant, and scale quality were included as moderators in the analysis to determine their effect on the relation between teacher-student relationship quality and peer aggression. This meta-analysis advances our understanding of the role of teacher-student relationship quality in peer interactions at school, and the results can inform bullying prevention programs by providing insight as to where to allocate resources and energy.

Aggression and violence in healthcare settings can lead to severe psychological, physical, and economic consequences for the victims, institutions, and society in general. Empirical evidence indicated that patient-initiated physical and verbal aggression is a longstanding problem affecting nurses working in psychiatric hospital settings. At the project site, approximately 88% of the staff members reported having been assaulted by mental health patients in the admission units at some point in the provision of care between 2015 and 2017. The purpose of this project was to develop an educational program for nurses at the site to use as preventive strategies in managing aggression rather than relying solely on seclusion, medication, and restraints. The theoretical framework that guided the development of evidence-based practice was program theory and theory of change analysis. The practice-focused question examined the extent to which a revamped educational program would improve the knowledge of the nursing staff at the project site. The education was presented using an electronic format and completed by 91 staff members. The paired t test showed a difference of 102.34 points from pretest to posttest with a p value of .000. Results of the Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test (z=-8.288, p=.000) were also significant. Positive social change might occur in psychiatric hospital settings by empowering and increasing the knowledge of the nursing staff to create a safe working environment and improve the care provided to the patients.

The present study was conducted over a two-month period and used a three-group post-treatment quasi-experimental design to compare the relative effectiveness of teacher training only, to teacher training plus parent training, upon the aggressive and social competency behaviors of teacher-identified aggressive preschoolers. In addition to a non-intervention control group of teacher-identified aggressive preschoolers, children who teachers identified as being non-aggressive were also observed for comparison purposes. The training that both parents and teachers received was general and focused on providing an understanding of the techniques of social learning theory and child behavior management. Parents also implemented behavior programs to increase desirable child behaviors. The dependent measures used in the present investigation included: observed child aggression, observed teacher reinforcement of parallel and cooperative play of target children, teacher ratings of social competency and problem behaviors, parents' ratings of problem behaviors, and parent satisfaction ratings of children's daycare/preschool programs. Due to several problems with research design and methodology (e.g., quasi-random assignment, no baseline or pre-treatment data, a small sample size, etc.), it was impossible to draw definitive conclusions from the obtained results. However, it appeared that both teacher training and teacher and parent training were as equally effective in reducing aggression as was no treatment at all. Furthermore, teacher training did not appear to increase teachers' rate of reinforcement of appropriate child behaviors. Another finding was that parent training may have increased parents' knowledge of behavioral principles as applied to children and may have improved parents' satisfaction with children's daycare/preschool programs. Suggestions made for further research included: increasing the sample size, random assignment of subjects, development of specific individual treatment programs, and collection of baseline pretreatment data.

Bakgrund Under de kommande tio åren kommer antalet äldre i samhället att öka vilket ger ett tilltaget problem med demenssjukdomar. Omvårdnaden av demenssjuka personer är personcentrerad och beroende dels på vem personer är samt vilken typ av demenssjukdom som personen har. Närstående uppmanas skriva en levnadsberättelse, vilket kan underlätta omvårdnaden då den ger vårdpersonalen en inblick i vem den demenssjuke är. De demenssjuka har en begränsad förmåga att ta in och förstå intryck så boendemiljön bör anpassas efter deras behov. Olika färger och former kan hjälpa dem orientera sig i sin närmiljö. Bemötande av demenssjuka personer är individuellt då de inte är en homogen grupp utan endast har sin diagnos gemensamt. De har en minskad kommunikationsförmåga, både i att uttrycka sig och sina önskemål samt att förstå vad omgivningen menar. Aggression uppstår till största del på grund av depression, psykoser, smärta, låg känsla av tillit till vårdpersonalen samt avsaknad av social stimulering. Åtgärder för att minska aggression är att finna grundorsaken och behandla den. Sjuksköterskan bör kunna bemöta den demenssjuke respektfullt, lyhört och på ett empatiskt sätt samt uppmärksamma behovet av hjälp.   Syfte Syftet var att beskriva sjuksköterskans upplevelse av att bemöta aggression från personer med en demenssjukdom i omvårdnadssituationer   Metod Studien var utformad som en kvalitativ deskriptiv intervjustudie där sjuksköterskor på demensboende inom Stockholm län intervjuades. Sjuksköterskorna skulle ha arbetat minst två år inom demenssjukvården samt ha möt aggression i omvårdnadssituationer. En intervjuguide utformades och frågorna testades med en pilotintervju. Intervjun var halvstrukturerad där ett fåtal frågor var förbestämda och följdfrågor ställdes under intervjuns gång. Intervjun spelades in med en ljudbandspelare och den transkriberades samt analyserades. Fem kategorier blev funna: Tänkbara orsaker till aggression, Sjuksköterskans agerande, Åtgärder för att minska aggression, Betydelsen av formell kompetens samt Betydelsen av reell kompetens. Kategorierna förtydligades med ett antal underkategorier samt citat.   Resultat Sjuksköterskorna ansåg att det var av vikt att avleda aggressionen samt att kommunicera på ett sätt som den demenssjuke kunde förstå. Uppvisandet av aggression kunde minska om omvårdnaden blev individanpassad, sjuksköterskorna upplevde även att deras bemötande kunde påverka uppvisandet av aggression. De påtalade en stolthet över att arbeta med personer med demenssjukdom.   Slutsats Sjuksköterskorna försökte finna grundorsaken till aggressionen samt att de i situationen försökte behålla lugnet. Det rådde delade meningar om farmakologisk behandling av aggression. Det framkom även delade meningar om det var yrkeserfarenhet eller utbildning som hade den avgörande betydelsen i bemötande av aggression från demenssjuka personer.

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Experimental studies suggest alcohol facilitates deliberate self-harm (DSH). One explanation might be that alcohol increases pain tolerance (PT), which may then lead to DSH. This study aimed to examine whether PT mediated the relationship between alcohol and DSH. Further, alcohol is neither necessary nor sufficient to self-harm. Given past non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a good predictor of future DSH, NSSI may moderate these relationships. This study also aimed to examine if mediation was conditional upon past NSSI. Participants (106 men and 104 women) reported on past NSSI and received a drink sufficient to produce target blood-alcohol content (BAC = .000%, .050%, .075%, or .100%). Participants completed a behavioral measure of DSH. Results revealed that the association between BAC and DSH was mediated through PT. Additionally, past NSSI moderated the path between PT and DSH but did not affect the path between BAC and PT. Clinical implications and limitations are discussed.