Evidence-based Enhancement of the Detection, Prevention, and Treatment of Mental Illness in the Connecticut Correction Systems, 2003 (ICPSR 26861)

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Data Collection Notes View help for Data Collection Notes

Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

The goal of the study was to develop and validate a brief mental health screening instrument suitable for use by correctional custody or healthcare staff in identifying jail detainees who warrant specialized mental health evaluation for undetected psychiatric impairment. Through the process of developing this tool, two objectives were obtained: (1) The evaluation of the reliability and validity of a composite mental health screen adapted from existing evidence-based protocols, and (2) the determination of the best brief subset of the mental health screen's items for the rapid identification of inmates with psychiatric disorders requiring care.

Study Design View help for Study Design

The study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 generated a brief mental health screening instrument, and Phase 2 validated that instrument.

In Phase 1, the research team first administered a 25-minute composite screening interview to 2,196 adults detained in 5 State of Connecticut jails in 2003 (Part 1). Five psychometrically developed questionnaires comprised the screening interview, including the Screening module for the SCID-I/P for DSM-IV (First et al., 1990), Primary Care PTSD screen (PC-PTSD; Ford et al., 1996; Prins et al., 1999), Iowa Personality Disorders Screen (IPDS;Langbehn et al.,1999), Referral Decision Scale (RDS; Teplin and Swartz, 1989), and the Alcohol and Substance Involvement Screening Test. Approximately 20 percent of the participants were randomly selected to be brought back 1 - 5 days later for an even lengthier clinical assessment (45-180 minutes), which established a more detailed account of Axis I and Axis II psychiatric disorders and psychosocial functioning.

Specifically, the research team collected Phase 1 Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) Data (Part 2), Phase 1 Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID I) Data (Part 3), Phase 1 Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID II) Data (Part 4), Phase 1 Screening Module from the Structured Clinical Interview-Patient Version for DSM-IV Data (Part 5), Phase 1 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) Data (Part 6), Phase 1 Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress (SIDES) Data (Part 7), and Phase 1 Traumatic Events Interview (TEI) Data (Part 8) on a randomly selected sub-sample of 302 Phase 1 respondents.

Using the Phase 1 data, the research team conducted various item reduction analyses separately for each gender including exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses to derive the best subset of items to be used in the brief mental health screen for jail detainees. On the basis of these various statistical analyses and item reduction procedures, the research team created an 8-item Correctional Mental Health Screen for Women (CMHS-W) and a 12-item Correctional Mental Health Screen for Men (CMHS-M). The CMHS is a brief screening tool designed to expedite the process of accurately identifying individuals in the correctional system with mental illness.

In Phase 2, the CMHS-W was administered to 360 women (Part 9) and the CMHS-M was administered to 630 men (Part 10). A randomly selected subsample subsequently completed research clinical diagnostic interviews for standardized clinical cross-validation. Specifically, the research team gathered Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) Data (Part 11), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID I) Data (Part 12), Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID II) Data (Part 13), Screening Module from the Structured Clinical Interview-Patient Version for DSM-IV Data (Part 14), 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) Data (Part 15), Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress (SIDES) Data (Part 16), and Traumatic Events Interview (TEI) Data (Part 17) on the Phase 2 subsample of 206 participants.

Sample View help for Sample

For Phase 1, study participants were recruited from February 2003 through September 2003 in five correctional facilities that serve as the jails for all adults incarcerated in Connecticut. Persons were eligible for the study if they entered jail 24 to 72 hours before recruitment, were 18 years or older, were able to speak English, were not "high bond" security risks (these persons could not be interviewed without a custody officer present), were not admitted to the medical unit for immediate care because of wounds or injuries or acute substance intoxication or detoxification, and were not admitted to the medical unit for acute psychosis, mania, suicidality, or delirium or a history of psychiatric treatment. Study participants (Part 1) were 2196 adults (670 women and 1,526 men). The research assessor used a pre-set numerical sequence to randomly select every fifth screening participant to be invited to participate in the follow-up interview. A total of 302 participants completed the clinical interview (Parts 2-8).

For phase 2, 1,094 detainees were invited to participate, and 104 (10 percent) declined; a total of 360 women (Part 9) and 630 men (Part 10) participated. After completing the screening, 223 randomly selected participants, stratified by gender, were invited to participate in a follow-up structured diagnostic interview for standardized clinical cross-validation; 17 (8 percent) declined, leaving 206 to participate (Part 11 - Part 17).

Time Method View help for Time Method

Universe View help for Universe

All adults detained in a State of Connecticut jail in 2003.

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Data Source View help for Data Source

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection View help for Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

The Phase 1 Master Screen dataset (Part 1) contains 154 variables that ask about drug use and experiences related to PTSD. The Phase 1 Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) dataset (Part 2) contains 187 variables that pertain to experiences with PTSD for Phase 1. Part 3 contains 649 variables from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I disorders (SCID I) for phase 1. Part 4 contains 230 variables from the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID II) Data for phase 1. Part 5 contains 26 variables from the Screening Module from the Structured Clinical Interview-Patient Version form DSM-IV Data for phase 1. Part 6 contains 53 variables from the phase 1 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) Data. Part 7 contains 149 variables from the phase 1 Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress (SIDES) Data. Part 8 contains 432 variables that ask about experiences with trauma from the phase 1 Traumatic Event Interview (TEI) Data.

The phase 2 Females Master Screen dataset (Part 9) contains 9 variables from the Correctional Mental Health Screen for Women (CMHS-W). The phase 2 Males Master Screen Data (Part 10) contains 14 variables from the Correctional Mental Health Screen for Men (CMHS-M). Part 11 contains 123 variables that pertain to experiences with PTSD in the phase 2 CAPS data. Part 12 contains 676 variables from the phase 2 SCID-I data. Part 13 contains 255 variables from the phase 2 SCID-II data. Part 14 contains 25 variables from the phase 2 SCID screening module data. Part 15 contains 14 variables from the SF-12 data. Part 16 contains 88 variables from the phase 2 SIDES data. Part 17 contains 415 variables from the phase 2 TEI data.

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

The study included the following scales:

• Alcohol, Smoking And Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST),

• Primary Care PTDS screen (PC-PTSD)

• Referral Decision Scale (RDS)

• Screening module from the SCID - Patient Version (SCID-I/P)

• Iowa Personality Disorders Screen (IPDS)

• Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS)

• Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Disorders (SCID I)

• Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis II Disorders (SCID II)

• Screening Module from the Structured Clinical Interview-Patient Version for DSM-IV

• 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12)

• Structured Interview for Disorders of Extreme Stress (SIDES)

• Traumatic Events Interview (TEI)

• Correctional Mental Health Screen for Females (CMHS-F)

• Correctional Mental Health Screen for Males (CMHS-M)

Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2015-12-22

Version History View help for Version History