Episodes Of Violent Behavior Research Articles

The interplay between academic performance, emotional intelligence, and self-concept as predictors of violent behavior in higher education: a multi-group structural equation modeling.

Higher education is a focus of increasing violent behavior. The evidence suggests an obsession to achieve the best academic performance in order to access working life. This research aims to develop an explanatory model of violent behavior and its relationship with self-concept and emotional intelligence according to in relation to their academic performance. A sample of 932 Spanish undergraduate students participated in the multi-group structural equation modeling. Findings revealed that students who have a higher academic performance have problems to control and regulate their emotions, showing signs of direct and indirect violence. Moreover, it was found that that emotional intelligence and self-concept have a direct influence on episodes of violent behavior, with academic performance being a key component affecting each variable. The present study provides some implications and suggests some avenues for future research.

NON-ADHERENCE TO TREATMENT AMONG SCHIZOPHRENIC PATIENTS

Background: One of the frequent problem in schizophrenic patients is non adherence to treatment which can be partial or complete7 and can leads to poor clinical outcomes. Non adherence to antipsychotic medications can lead to increased episodes of violent behavior, exacerbation of psychotic symptoms, increased rates of suicidal/homicidal behavior and resistance to drugs.
 Aims: To find prevalence of non adherence to treatment in schizophrenic patients.
 Materials & Methods: This is an observational, cross-sectional study which was conducted over a period of two months, on schizophrenic patients attending the outpatient department (OPD) of tertiary care hospital, Jammu. After meeting inclusion and exclusion criteria, total of 131 patients were selected for the study. Various parameters like age, sex, education, marital status etc were collected. A patient is said to be non adherent if he takes less than 80% of prescribed medication or have gaps in medication of at least 7 days.
 Results: 64.9% schizophrenic patients were non adherent to their treatment. Prevalence of non adherence was higher in those schizophrenic patients who were males, unmarried, uneducated, unemployed, from rural areas, below 20 years of age and belongs to lower socioeconomic status whereas it was low in those who had parents as their caretakers.
 Conclusion: In the present study it is concluded that the prevalence of non adherence among schizophrenic patients is high which may hamper treatment outcome, worsens the prognosis of the disease and produces excessive burden on the caretakers of these patients. Hence it is suggested that in addition to providing treatment to these patients, necessary initiatives must be taken by health care professionals to prevent relapses of symptoms by maintaining treatment compliance.
 Keywords: Non Adherence, Prevalence. Schizophrenia

Violent behavior and the factors associated with the decision to report it: a retrospective study

An ample volume of research evidence supports the conclusion that severe mental illness is correlated with violent behavior. While episodes of violent behavior are included in medical notes, not all episodes of violent behavior are officially reported to the police, even when they are actual crimes. We conducted a retrospective study on the already existing clinical files of four public psychiatric outpatient facilities, based in Southern Italy, in order to assess how many cases of violent behavior are actually reported and which variables are more frequently connected with the decision to report. The data shows that the episodes known to the health services, in number and seriousness, vastly outnumber the complaints actually made towards their patients.

Violent Behavior in Acute Psychiatric Inpatient Facilities

Violence committed by acute psychiatric inpatients represents an important and challenging problem in clinical practice. Sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment information were collected for 1324 patients (677 men and 647 women) admitted to Italian public and private acute psychiatric inpatient facilities during an index period in 2004, and the sample divided into 3 groups: nonhostile patients (no episodes of violent behavior during hospitalization), hostile patients (verbal aggression or violent acts against objects), and violent patients (authors of physical assault). Ten percent (N = 129) of patients showed hostile behavior during hospitalization and 3% (N = 37) physically assaulted other patients or staff members. Variables associated with violent behavior were: male gender, <24 years of age, unmarried status, receiving a disability pension, having a secondary school degree, compulsory admission, hostile attitude at admission, and a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, personality disorder, mental retardation, organic brain disorder or substance/alcohol abuse. Violent behavior during hospitalization was a predictive factor for higher Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores and for lower Personal and Social Performance scale scores at discharge. Despite the low percentage of violent and hostile behavior observed in Italian acute inpatient units, this study shed light on a need for the careful assessment of clinical and treatment variables, and greater effort aimed at improving specific prevention and treatment programs of violent behavior.

Subacute postictal aggression in patients with epilepsy

Three men with epilepsy (age range, 38–62) who exhibited brief episodes of violent behavior during the postictal period are described. Disease duration ranged from 27 to 44 years. Patients had both complex partial seizures and secondarily generalized tonic–clonic seizures, which were refractory to antiepileptic drugs. Postictal aggression occurred shortly after a seizure and lasted 5–30 minutes. The patients displayed physically and verbally aggressive behavior toward others, but regained consciousness promptly and showed regret afterward. Interictal EEGs revealed temporal spikes, SPECT showed hypoperfusion in the temporal and frontal areas in two patients, and neuropsychological examination revealed poor frontal lobe function in two patients. Characteristics of our cases are consistent with subacute postictal aggression (SPA) reported previously. Epilepsy of prolonged duration and brain dysfunction involving a broad area including the temporal and frontal lobes may be associated with the occurrence of subacute postictal aggression.

Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioural group therapy for inpatients

ObjectiveTo measure the effectiveness of manualized cognitive-behavioural group therapy (CBGT) when it is integrated into the routine care on a general hospital psychiatric inpatient unit.MethodsA pre-post design is used to measure the "process", "results" and "outcome" indicators in the year before CBGT was introduced (2001) in contrast to the subsequent two years (2002, 2003). Readmission to hospital, compulsory admissions, ward atmosphere (i.e. the use of physical restraint, episodes of violent behaviour) and patients' satisfaction were assessed.Results90% of all inpatients in the years 2002–2003 attended the group therapy. In the years after CBGT was introduced the rate of readmission declined from 38% to 27% and 24% (p < .04), compulsory admissions were reduced from 17% to 4% (p < .03), the ward atmosphere and patients' satisfaction were both excellent (p < .01).ConclusionIt is probable that the improvements observed were attributable to the group therapy. These results and those observed in an earlier study are promising and further investigations of this approach are indicated.

Ameliorating the Effects of Violent Behavior in a Mother With Brain Injury

Following a brain injury, individuals often suffer a broad range of debilitating sequelae, including cognitive deficits, mood disorders, impulsivity, and poor anger management. In this study, amotherwho suffered a severe brain injury at the age of 10 exhibited frequent episodes of violent behavior following the injury and into adulthood. Child welfare authorities and family members were concerned about the safety of her two children. She was therefore referred for parent training to assist her inmanaging the problembehavior of her children. The authors employed errorless compliance training, a success-based, noncoercive parent training strategy, to teach the mother how to gain child cooperation without physical intervention. Although the mother required extensive support in implementing the strategy due to cognitive and emotional difficulties, she was able to effect substantial changes in the compliance of both children. Errorless compliance training appears well suited to parents with cognitive, emotional, and impulse-control difficulties who may be predisposed to maltreatment.

The use of group cognitive behaviour therapy in a routine acute inpatient setting

To describe a preliminary evaluation of a group CBT approach which has been fully integrated into the routine care for acute psychotic inpatients, admitted to a typically overburdened inner-city psychiatric general hospital unit. The design is pre-post. A comparison of some indicators between the years preceding (1997) and following the beginning of the group therapy (1998) has been carried out. Psychiatric ward of S. Filippo Neri in Rome, in 1998. The study compared the rate of rehospitalization, the rate of compulsory admission, the use of physical restraints, the episodes of violent behaviour and the escape from the ward. During the last three months of 1998 patients' satisfaction was also measured. Overall 385 patients attended the group therapy, 79% of all inpatients in the period, with an average number of 4 sessions per patient. 59% of participants in the group in 1998 had a diagnosis of schizophrenia or paranoid disorder. The total compulsory admissions declined by 1/3 (p < 0.001), the "revolving door" patients declined by 1/3 (p < 0.05), compulsory admissions in "revolving door" patients declined by 3/4 (p < 0.005), violent episodes by almost half (p < 0.001), physical restraints and patients escape from the ward almost disappeared. Patients' opinion about the participation to the group was excellent. It is likely, but not sure, that the improvements were directly attributable to the introduction of the group treatment. Moreover, the group was clearly found to be useful by the majority of the participants. Some asked for further help of this type on discharge. These preliminary results are promising and make us confident they will act as stimuli for other colleagues to implement and evaluate this approach in other settings.

Running Amok: A Modern Perspective on a Culture-Bound Syndrome.

Running amok is considered a rare culture-bound syndrome by current psychiatric classification systems, but there is evidence that it occurs frequently in modern industrialized societies. The historical origins of running amok as a psychiatric condition are reviewed in this article, and its relevance to modern day episodes of violent behavior is discussed. Psychotic illnesses, personality disorders, and mood disorders are all possible causes of amok, and the identification and treatment of patients who are at risk for manifesting violent behavior are discussed.

Case Study: Cyproheptadine and Aggression in a Five‐Year-Old Boy

Cyproheptadine is an antihistamine and serotonin antagonist given to children for allergies, migraine headaches, and growth problems. A 5-year-old boy began to have episodes of violent behavior after the initiation of cyproheptadine therapy. After cyproheptadine was discontinued, the aggression ceased over the course of a few weeks. Although there are other causal explanations possible in this case, cyproheptadine seems the most likely cause of the violent behavior, especially in view of the literature on the relation between serotonin and aggression.

Psychosocial effects of longterm cannabis use in India. A study of fifty heavy users and controls.

Fifty cases of heavy cannabis users in India (25 smokers of charas and 25 drinkers of bhang) were studied for their physical and mental health and compared with 25 non-user controls. The average duration of cannabis use was more than 10 years with an estimated average consumption of about 150 mg of THC daily. Physical health and nutrition were relatively poor in users and there were more respiratory complaints. No case of definite psychosis related to the use of cannabis was found in the series, though minor neurotic complaints were present in all groups. In the social sphere cannabis users gave more often a history of poor work record, family maladjustment and episodes of violent behaviour.