Predictive Validity Of Assessments Research Articles

Predictive validity of HCR-20, START, and static-99R assessments in predicting institutional aggression among sexual offenders.

Sexual offenders are at greater risk of nonsexual than sexual violence. Yet, only a handful of studies have examined the validity of risk assessments in predicting general, nonsexual violence in this population. This study examined the predictive validity of assessments completed using the Historical-Clinical-Risk Managment-20 Version 2 (HCR-20; Webster, Douglas, Eaves, & Hart, 1997), Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START; Webster, Martin, Brink, Nicholls, & Desmarais, 2009), and Static-99R (Hanson & Thornton, 1999) in predicting institutional (nonsexual) aggression among 152 sexual offenders in a large secure forensic state hospital. Aggression data were gathered from institutional records over 90-day and 180-day follow-up periods. Results support the predictive validity of HCR-20 and START, and to a lesser extent, Static-99R assessments in predicting institutional aggression among patients detained or civilly committed pursuant to the sexually violent predator (SVP) law. In general, HCR-20 and START assessments demonstrated greater predictive validity-specifically, the HCR-20 Clinical subscale scores and START Vulnerability total scores-than Static-99R assessments across types of aggression and follow-up periods. (PsycINFO Database Record

Assessing professionalism: a review of the literature

Although assessing professionalism poses many challenges, gauging and detecting changes in professionalism is impossible without measurement. This paper is a review of techniques used to assess professionalism during the past 20 years. The authors searched five electronic databases and reference lists from 1982 to 2002. Eighty-eight assessments were retained and organized into content area addressed (i.e. ethics, personal characteristics, comprehensive professionalism, diversity) and type of outcome examined (i.e. affective, cognitive, behavioral, environmental). Instead of creating new professionalism assessments, existing assessments should be improved. Also, more studies on the predictive validity of assessments and their use as part of formative evaluation systems are recommended. Based on the review, suggestions are presented for assessing medical students, resident physicians and practicing physicians.