Exploring a new structured professional judgment measure (impulsivity measure related to violence) after an average follow-up of 10 years: A study of Finnish offenders.

BACKGROUND

Identification of the risk factors underlying impulsivity related to violent acts is an essential component of risk assessment and management to reduce violent offending.

AIMS

Our aim was to develop a clinically useful measure for assessing impulsivity related to violence. Our research questions were which items in the newly developed measure are associated with later violent recidivism and what is the measure's predictive validity?

METHODS

A new scale, the impulsivity measure related to violence (IMP-V), was studied by completing the scale, blind to outcome, from information in the forensic psychiatric examination reports of 63 of a 1-year referral cohort of 181 Finnish offenders. Data on reoffending for up to 15 years after release were collected from official criminal records.

RESULTS

The predictive accuracy of the IMP-V continuous ratings was 78% and for the categorical summary risk ratings 77%. Univariate analyses of categorical summary risk ratings of the risk factors revealed that, with two exceptions, each additional score on the IMP-V was associated with a significant increase in violence recidivism.

CONCLUSIONS

These preliminary results indicate that the IMP-V is a promising decision-enhancing guide for assessing the risk of violence in impulsive people and that the measure is worth developing for use with impulsivity-prone offenders and forensic psychiatric patients. The IMP-V organises information on the nature of impulsivity in violence-prone persons and thus also creates opportunities for more effective risk management.