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H Nijman

Publications and source records attributed to H Nijman.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Measuring aggression with the staff observation aggression scale--revised.

OBJECTIVE: The staff observation aggression scale (SOAS; Palmstierna & Wistedt, 1987) was developed to measure nature, number, as well as severity of aggressive incidents. In 1999, a revised version of the SOAS (i.e. the SOAS-R), with a more fine-grained severity scoring system, was presented. In the current paper, the development and testing of the revised severity scores of the SOAS-R are addressed. METHOD: In two consecutive studies, staff members recorded inpatient aggression on SOAS-R forms, but also expressed their opinion about the severity of incidents on 100 mm visual analogue scales (VASs). Correlations were calculated between SOAS and SOAS-R severity scores, on the one hand, and clinical judgements of severity, on the other. RESULTS: In both studies, revised SOAS severity scores were more closely related to clinical judgements of aggression severity than the original ones. CONCLUSION: The SOAS-R is a promising tool for research on the prevalence, severity and determinants of inpatient aggression.

Aggression↗
PubMed2002

Issues in the measurement of violent incidents and the introduction of a new scale: the 'attacks' (attempted and actual assault scale).

OBJECTIVE: To review the strengths and weaknesses of existing violent incident measures, and introduce a new scale, the 'attacks'. The new scale provides an objective measure of incident severity and focuses on interpersonal physical violence in isolation from other behaviours. METHOD: The new scale was piloted on six psychiatric wards in the East End of London over a period of 16 weeks. Descriptive data were obtained and validated against official violent incident records. RESULTS: There were 40 incidents by 21 aggressive patients, most of which occurred on the psychiatric intensive care unit. Striking assaults predominated. Continuous holding of the patient by nurses occurred after 17% of incidents. Special observation was also used as a subsequent management method in more than half of the incidents. CONCLUSION: The scale is acceptable to nurses and valid. Interesting questions are raised about the content of training for staff in the prevention and management of violent incidents.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Prediction of aggression on a locked psychiatric admissions ward.

OBJECTIVE: The present study evaluates the accuracy of clinical and archival predictors of patients' aggressive behaviour on a locked admissions ward. METHOD: Over a 9-month period, staff members estimated the likelihood that patients would become aggressive during their stay in the ward. These unaided clinical assessments were obtained with Visual Analogue Scales (VASs) administered before the end of the first full day of admission. Archival predictions were based on demographic variables (e.g. gender, number of previous admissions, diagnosis) derived from patients' admission forms. Aggressive behaviour was recorded with the Staff Observation Aggression Scale-Revised (SOAS-R). RESULTS: Clinical predictions of aggression were found to be moderately accurate. On the basis of clinical estimates, 75% of the patients were correctly classified as becoming aggressive or not. CONCLUSION: Although a body of evidence indicates that unaided clinical prediction of violent recidivism after hospital discharge does not perform well, it may be quite accurate in estimating short-term aggression risks during acute psychiatric admission.

Aggression↗
PubMed2001

[Gender identity disorders as a symptom of psychosis, schizophrenia in particular].

In the Netherlands it has recently become possible for transsexual patients to receive hormonal treatment from the onset of puberty. Until the age of 16, pubertal development can be prevented with luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH) agonists. From 16 years of age onwards, gender adjustment can be initiated by administration of hormones of the opposite sex. Surgical treatment can be offered once the patient reaches 18 years of age. Although such treatment will only be initiated with reticence and after a long phase of intense diagnostic screening, the question arises whether a clear differentiation can be made between pure gender identity disorders and secondary transsexual feelings that are part of an ongoing psychopathological development, such as schizophrenia. The potential diagnostic confusion is illustrated by a case history of a male schizophrenic patient. This patient had been treated hormonally for transsexualism for years before acute psychotic decompensation occurred. Neuroleptic treatment of the psychosis rapidly reduced the psychotic symptoms. In retrospect, the patient regards his transsexual period as a 'mistake'. Delusions about one's physical appearance and the urge to drastically change the way one looks appear to be relatively common in patients suffering from schizophrenia.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Birth patterns in mentally retarded autistic patients.

Some studies claim to have shown that, compared to the general population, autistic children are born more often in the spring. The current study sought to replicate this finding in a large Dutch sample of mentally retarded autistic patients. Birth data for 1,031 patients with a diagnosis of "Infantile Autism" or "other psychoses with origin specific to childhood" were compared to those of the Dutch national population. Separate analyses were performed on diagnostic subgroups (i.e., infantile autism vs. other psychoses with origin specific to childhood), gender, and intelligence. No evidence was found to suggest that autism is characterized by a deviant birth pattern.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Covariation detection in treated and untreated spider phobics.

Twenty treated and 18 untreated spider phobics were exposed to a series of 72 slides. Three different categories of slides were used: phobia-relevant slides (spiders), alternative fear-relevant slides (weapons), and neutral slides (flowers). Slides were randomly paired with either a shock, a tone, or nothing at all. Despite the absence of a systematic correlation between slides and outcomes, untreated phobics strongly overestimated the covariation between spider slides and shock. Treated phobics did not show a covariation bias, suggesting that such bias can be modulated by behavioral treatment. In addition, untreated subjects were more confident about their contingency estimates than were treated subjects. The present results fit with earlier studies.

Adolescent↗