Assessing risk for violence among psychiatric patients: The HCR-20 violence risk assessment scheme and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version.

1 January 1999

journal article
Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology

Vol. 67 (6) , 917-930
https://doi.org/10.1037//0022-006x.67.6.917

Abstract

This study evaluated the predictive validity of the HCR-20 (Historical, Clinical, and Risk Management) violence risk assessment scheme and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV). Files of 193 civilly committed patients were coded. Patients were followed up in the community for an average of 626 days. Receiver operating characteristic analyses with the HCR-20 yielded strong associations with violence (areas under curve [AUCs] = .76-.80). Persons scoring above the HCR-20 median were 6 to 13 times more likely to be violent than those scoring below the median. PCL:SV AUCs were more variable (.68-.79). Regression analyses revealed that the HCR-20 added incremental validity to the PCL:SV and that only HCR-20 subscales predicted violence. Implications for risk assessment research, and the clinical assessment and management of violence, are discussed.

Keywords

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