Predictive Validity and Other Psychometric Properties of the Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START) in a Norwegian High Secure Hospital

Abstract

Short- to medium-term risk assessment in psychiatric hospitals is a topic of clinical relevance that deserves attention from the research community. In this paper, the Short Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability, or START (Webster, Martin, Brink, Nicholls, & Middleton, 2004), a new structured instrument for judgment of dynamic risk and treatment factors is briefly described. Internal reliability properties are analyzed and the predictive validity for severe violence in a Norwegian high secure psychiatric hospital is investigated. The results indicate that the START has promise as a valid tool for short-term violence risk assessment. The authors make an argument for the importance and relevance of dynamic risk and strength factors in the short to medium term.