A PILOT-STUDY OF THE PERSONALITY-ASSESSMENT INVENTORY (PAI) IN CORRECTIONS - ASSESSMENT OF MALINGERING, SUICIDE RISK, AND AGGRESSION IN MALE INMATES

Provision of mental health services to correctional populations places considerable demands on clinical staff to provide efficient and effec tive means to screen patients for severe mental disorders and other em ergent conditions that necessitate immediate interventions. Among the highly problematic behaviors found in correctional settings are forms of acting out (e.g., suicide and aggression towards others) and respon se style (e.g., motivations to malinger). The current study examined t he usefulness of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in assessi ng problematic behaviors in a corrections-based psychiatric hospital. As evidence of criterion related validity, selected PAI scales were co mpared to (a) evidence of malingering on the Structured Interview of R eported Symptoms (SIRS), (b) suicidal threats and gestures, and (c) ra tings of aggression on the Overt Aggression Scale (GAS). In general, r esults supported the use of the PAI for the assessment of these proble matic behaviors. (C) 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.