Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA): A validation study among prisoners.

BACKGROUND: There are numerous scales for screening cognitive performance and thus identification of any potential deficits, but in spite of the vulnerability of the prison population to such problems, there has been no adequate validation of screening tools specifically for use with prisoners or others in the criminal justice system. AIM: To validate the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) for use with prisoners. METHODS: 100 adult prisoners in one Portuguese prison were randomly invited by clinicians to take part in this study. A same size sample of community-living adult non-offenders of similar age was selected from the MoCA's normative study database in Portugal. For both groups, the key inclusion criterion was fluency in the Portuguese language. All participants completed the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and the MoCA, both in Portuguese translation. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was calculated as an index of internal consistency and Pearson's r correlations calculated. Group performances were compared using independent samples t-test. Covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was computed with level of education as covariate. To measure the magnitude of the effect, η p 2 ${\eta }_{p}^{2}$ was used. A receiver operating characteristics curve analysis was computed to evaluate the discriminatory accuracy of MoCA and MMSE. RESULTS: The MoCA showed a 'reasonable' internal consistency index (α = 0.75) as well as positive and significant correlations with the MMSE. As a cognitive measure, however, the MoCA showed consistently superior psychometric properties and higher discriminatory accuracy (MoCA = 89%) than the MMSE (65%). According to the Youden index, the optimal cut-off point for the MoCA is below 24 points, whereas for the MMSE, it is below 27. CONCLUSIONS: The MoCA is a valid cognitive screening tool for use with prisoners. Further validations against detailed cognitive evaluation would be a useful next step.

Legal Psychological Assessment in Custody Processes in Brazil: Professional Practices / Avaliação Psicológica Jurídica em Processos de Guarda no Brasil: Práticas Profissionais

This research aimed to understand the structuring of psychological assessments in custody actions and, on the other hand, to identify the existence of homogeneity or heterogeneity in these practices. Twenty-nine Brazilian legal psychologists participated in this study and answered an online questionnaire built based on the literature. The analysis of the results was carried out through deductive and semantic Thematic Analysis, whose previous categories were created based on national and international guidelines. The most salient results indicate some divergences from the literature, but that its actions and dimensions are compatible with those found in the literature. Based on these results, a guide of systematized practices is proposed, aiming to promote greater uniformity in parental assessment.

Resumo Esta pesquisa teve como objetivos, por um lado, compreender a estruturação das avaliações psicológica em ações de guarda e, por outro, identificar a existência de homogeneidade ou heterogeneidade nessas práticas. Participaram neste estudo 29 psicólogos jurídicos brasileiros, que responderam a um questionário online construído com base na literatura. A análise dos resultados foi realizada através da Análise Temática dedutiva e semântica, cujas categorias prévias foram criadas com base em orientações nacionais e internacionais. Os resultados mais salientes indicam algumas divergências face à literatura, mas que as suas ações e dimensões são compatíveis com as encontradas na literatura. Com base nestes resultados, propõe-se um roteiro de práticas sistematizadas, visando promover uma maior uniformidade na avaliação parental.

El Inventario de Evaluación de da Personalidad (Pai): Una Revisión Sistemática Sobre Su Uso En El Contexto Legal / The Personality Assessment Inventory (Pai): A Systematic Review Of Its Use In The Legal Field

Este estudio bibliométrico analiza la evidencia disponible sobre el uso del Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI, Morey, 1991) en contextos legales, tanto en muestras de personas imputadas y condenadas, como en víctimas y demandantes. Siguiendo el protocolo PRISMA-P se identificaron 131 artículos. La productividad se concentra en un número limitado de autores, instituciones, países y revistas. La mayoría de artículos emplean el PAI para analizar características de personalidad y psicopatológicas o las propiedades psicométricas del instrumento en muestras de hombres de mediana edad en prisiones de Estados Unidos y Canadá. Investigaciones con el PAI en muestras de víctimas, en mujeres y en contextos legales del mundo de habla hispana surgen como prometedoras áreas de vacancia. Su desarrollo dependerá en gran parte de la capacidad cooperativa que logren las instituciones jurídicas, penitenciarias y de seguridad con los grupos de investigación. (AU)

This systematic review study summarizes the available evidence on the use of the Personality Assessment Inventory in legal contexts, both with samples composed of accused and convicted persons, as well as with victims and plaintiffs. Following the PRISMA-P protocol, 131 articles that met the eligibility criteria were analyzed according to the subjects and psychometric properties investigated. Productivity was concentrated in a limited number of authors, institutions, countries, and journals. Most of the articles refer to the use of the PAI to analyze general personality and sychopathological characteristics, or psychometric properties of the instrument, in samples of middle-aged men in prisons in the United States and Canada. Research studies that use the PAI in samples of victims and women, and in Spanish-speaking legal contexts, emerge from this review as promising areas for future investigation. The development of these areas depends to a large extent on the cooperative capacity that legal, correctional, and security services achieve with academic research groups. (AU)