The Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Adults with Intellectual Disability: A Systematic Review.

Area of Science:

• Forensic Psychology
• Intellectual Disability Research
• Risk Assessment Tools

Background:

• Structured professional judgment approaches for violence risk assessment are well-researched in mental health and forensic settings.
• Application of these approaches to individuals with intellectual disabilities is less explored.
• This review focuses on the predictive validity of risk assessment tools for violence in adults with intellectual disabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and assess the predictive validity of risk assessment tools for violence in adults with intellectual disabilities.
• To synthesize findings from existing research on the effectiveness of these tools in this specific population.

Main Methods:

• A standard systematic review methodology was employed.
• Studies were identified and synthesized to evaluate the predictive validity of risk assessment tools.
• Inclusion criteria focused on studies assessing violence risk in adults with intellectual disabilities.

Main Results:

• Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria, evaluating 18 different risk assessment tools.
• The majority of studies were conducted in forensic settings.
• All included studies reported that the assessed risk assessment tools were successful in predicting violence.
• The overall quality of the included studies was generally high.

Conclusions:

• There is robust evidence supporting the validity of current risk assessment tools for individuals with intellectual disabilities who have offended.
• Additional research is necessary to fully validate these tools for use with the broader population of individuals with intellectual disabilities who offend.