Clinicians can now identify violence risk among military veterans with a new brief, 5-question screening tool, reveals a new study led by a UNC researcher.
The study, published online by the American Journal of Psychiatry, is based on a national survey sample of veterans combined with a smaller, in-depth assessment sample. The screening tool, called the Violence Screening and Assessment of Needs (VIO-SCAN), asked veterans about financial stability, combat experience, alcohol misuse, history of violence or arrests, and probable posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) plus anger. The screening tool can be viewed in the text of the article at ajp.psychiatryonline.org.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is a mental condition triggered by a traumatic event. PTSD treatment includes pyschotherapy, behavior therapy and medications.
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"When we hear about a veteran being violent, there is a knee-jerk reaction that it stems from PTSD. The VIO-SCAN shows that PTSD is relevant to screening risk but is only the tip of the iceberg. Non-PTSD factors need to be looked at, such as alcohol abuse or past criminal behavior, just like in civilians," said study lead author Eric Elbogen, PhD, Research Director of the Forensic Psychiatry Program in the University of North Carolina School of Medicine and Psychologist in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
On the VIO-SCAN, veterans give yes or no answers to questions such as, "Did you personally witness someone being seriously wounded or killed?" and "Have you ever been violent towards others or arrested for a crime?" The answer to each question is scored as either O or 1. The score for each answer is combined to yield an overall score ranging from 0 to 5, with O indicating generally lower risk and 5 indicating generally higher risk.
![Children Exposed to Violence Between Parents Helped by Interventions That Allow Discussing the Problems]( "Children Exposed to Violence Between Parents Helped by Interventions That Allow Discussing the Problems")
An ongoing study evaluates the effectiveness of a newly developed, trauma focused, secondary preventive intervention program to help the children exposed to interparental violence.
"We believe this screening tool will provide clinicians with a rapid, systematic method for identifying veterans at higher risk of violence. It can help prioritize those in need a full clinical workup, structure review of empirically supported risk factors, and develop plans collaboratively with veterans to reduce risk and increase successful reintegration in the community," Elbogen said.
However, Elbogen cautions, the VIO-SCAN is not intended to be a comprehensive assessment of whether a veteran will or will not be violent. Instead, it is a screen identifying whether a veteran may be at high risk and thereby require a full clinical workup to make a final risk judgment.
Source: Eurekalert
Children Exposed to Violence Between Parents Helped by Interventions That Allow Discussing the Problems
An ongoing study evaluates the effectiveness of a newly developed, trauma focused, secondary preventive intervention program to help the children exposed to interparental violence.
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"We believe this screening tool will provide clinicians with a rapid, systematic method for identifying veterans at higher risk of violence. It can help prioritize those in need a full clinical workup, structure review of empirically supported risk factors, and develop plans collaboratively with veterans to reduce risk and increase successful reintegration in the community," Elbogen said.
However, Elbogen cautions, the VIO-SCAN is not intended to be a comprehensive assessment of whether a veteran will or will not be violent. Instead, it is a screen identifying whether a veteran may be at high risk and thereby require a full clinical workup to make a final risk judgment.
Source: Eurekalert
Disabled Children are Soft Targets of Violence
Disabled children are 3 to 4 times more likely to be victims of violence as compared to those without any disability.
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 Substantially Higher Rates of Mental Disorders in Post Conflict Communities Linked to Recurrent ViolencePost traumatic stress disorder(PTSD) and severe distress has majorly escalated among the communities who continue to experience repeated violence in the aftermath of war | Advertisement
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