Aggressive Personality and Aggressive Incidents: A Pilot Investigation of the Personality Assessment Inventory within Forensic Psychiatry

Few studies to date have examined the utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) in predicting aggressive behaviour among those deemed ‘not criminally responsible on account of a mental disorder.’ In this pilot study, 25 forensic psychiatric patients with a history of violence and diagnosed with psychosis and 20 healthy controls completed the PAI aggression (AGG) scale – composed of subscales attitude (A), verbal (V), and physical (P) – and positive impression management scale. Data regarding aggressive incidents during the 3 months post-testing were obtained through clinician ratings on the Aggressive Incidents Scale. Patients were differentiated from controls by the AGG-V and AGG-P subscales. AGG-A and AGG-V subscales were positively associated with severe aggressive incidents in hospital. These findings highlight the relevance of PAI scales for clinicians to evaluate greatest potential for aggressive behaviour on forensic psychiatric units and the need to further investigate its applicability for understanding violence risk.