Predicting aggression in adults with intellectual disability: A pilot study of the predictive efficacy of the Current Risk of Violence and the Short Dynamic Risk Scale.

BACKGROUND: Structured assessments have been shown to assist professionals to evaluate the risk of aggression in secure services for general offender populations and more recently among adults with intellectual disabilities. There is a need to develop intellectual disability sensitive measures for predicting risk of aggression in community samples, especially tools with a focus on dynamic variables.

METHODS: The study prospectively followed 28 participants for up to 2 months to test whether the Current Risk of Violence (CuRV) and Short Dynamic Risk Scale (SDRS) were able to predict verbal and physical aggression in a community sample of adults with intellectual disability.

RESULTS: CuRV and SDRS ratings significantly predicted verbal and physical aggression over a 2-month period.

CONCLUSIONS: The current study supports the use of the CuRV with adults with intellectual disability living in community settings. The CuRV and SDRS are worthy of future development and evaluation in independent investigations.