Psychometric attributes associated with attrition within a prison-based democratic therapeutic community

Psychometric attributes associated with attrition within a prison-based democratic therapeutic community Victoria Jade Pointon, Rachel Roberts Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities, Vol. ahead-of-print, No. ahead-of-print, pp.- The purpose of this paper is to examine the psychometric characteristics of male offenders who joined a democratic therapeutic community and their relationship to attrition.Residents who left therapy prematurely during the assessment phase (N = 46) and residents who left therapy prematurely during core therapy (N = 202) were compared to residents who completed therapy (N = 52) on two psychometric measures: Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices and The Blame Attribution Inventory.A multinomial logistic regression analysis showed higher levels of external blame can predict attrition during therapy; those with higher levels of external attribution are significantly more likely to leave therapy prematurely, including both during the assessment phase and during core therapy. Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices score did not significantly predict whether an individual left therapy prematurely.Support was found for existing research within the academic evidence base. The findings have both empirical and clinical utility, suggesting during the assessment phase of therapy, practitioners can identify residents that may require additional support to maintain engagement, minimising the potential for premature departure. ...

Source: Therapeutic Communities: The International Journal of Therapeutic Communities - January 31, 2023 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Victoria Jade Pointon Rachel Roberts Source Type: research