Psychiatric disorders among employment requiring firearms.

Individuals who carry guns as a requirement of employment frequently experience hazards that can be stress inducing, violent, traumatizing, or cause personal injury. This study used data from the Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiological Surveys (CPES; n = 20,013), to examine mental health diagnoses of individuals that ever worked at a job requiring a firearm. Consistent with existing literature, the findings indicated that those who worked in professions requiring a firearm showed similar risk of mental health diagnoses as law enforcement officers which includes symptoms of trauma, mood disorders, and alcohol use. Further, race/ethnic differences emerged in patterns of mental health diagnoses, suggesting sociocultural differences influence diagnoses. These findings indicate the necessity for further investigation of the understudied area of mental health of those within employment positions that require firearms.

A Sample of Predominately African American Domestic Violence Victims' Responses to Objective Risk Assessments.

One area of significant concern for researchers of domestic violence is identifying the utility of objective risk assessment tools on diverse samples. This study included a sample of predominately African American women (n = 57) living in a domestic violence shelter. The study compared the Danger Assessment (DA) and the Ontario Domestic Assault Risk Assessment (ODARA) to evaluate their responses of their risk for re-abuse. Results revealed a moderate to strong correlation between the DA and ODARA (r = .73). Offender's age, habitation, and pregnancy status were not related to the victim's perceptions of risk for future abuse. Implications of these findings are discussed.