Acquired Brain Injury and Interventions in the Offender Population: A Systematic Review

Background and Aims: The prevalence of acquired brain injury (ABI) in offender populations appears much higher than in the general population, being estimated at 50% compared to 12%, respectively. Taking into account ABI-related cognitive and social impairments or behavioral changes in forensic treatments might be relevant and may improve treatment outcomes. The aim of the current review is to summarize and integrate the literature on psychological interventions or treatments for consequences of ABI in the forensic setting. Reviewing this literature could provide crucial information for improving treatment options for offenders with ABI, which may contribute to reducing recidivism. Methods: The PubMed/MEDLINE, PsychInfo, CINAHL, COCHRANE, and Web of Science databases were searched for studies in adult offenders with ABI that evaluated the effect of psychological interventions with a focus on ABI-related impairments and recidivism. Results: This review identified four intervention studies that met the inclusion criteria. These included an adult population (≥18-year-old) in a forensic setting (given the focus of the current review on treatment, defined here as an environment in which offenders are treated while being incarcerated or as outpatients), non-pharmacological treatments and were published in English or Dutch between 2005 and 2020. All studies reported some positive effects of the intervention on interpersonal behavior, cognition and recidivism. The aspects of the interventions that seemed most beneficial included personalized treatment and re-entry plans, support for the individual and their environment and psychoeducation about the effects of ABI. Discussion: Although positive effects were reported in the studies reviewed, all studies had methodological limitations in terms of sample size, study design and outcome measures which affects the strength of the evidence. This limits strong conclusions and generalizability to the entire offender population. Conclusion: Despite high prevalence of ABI in offender populations, interventions in forensic settings seldom address the effect of ABI. The few studies that did take ABI into account reported positive effects, but those results should be interpreted with caution. Future studies are warranted, since this does seem an important venue to improve treatment, which could eventually contribute to reducing recidivism

Toward a Risk Management Strategy: A Narrative Review of Methods for Translation of Risk Assessment into Risk Management

In forensic mental health care, a risk management plan forms the transition between the assessment and the treatment phase. Research and practice have shown that clinicians often experience difficulties in the transition from assessment to risk management. Available methods often do not provide sufficient guidelines. The current narrative review aimed to provide an overview of available methods for the translation of the risk assessment information into a risk management plan and to evaluate these methods. A literature search led to the identification of 21 methods, of which only two provided concrete guidelines for all of the steps of the pathway from risk assessment to management. Results underline the importance of providing clinicians with structured methods to guide the risk management pathway

Acclimatization of the gait pattern to wearing an ankle-foot orthosis in children with spastic cerebral palsy

Background Ankle-foot orthoses can be prescribed to improve gait in children with cerebral palsy. Before evaluating the effects of ankle-foot orthoses on gait, a period to adapt or acclimatize is usually applied. It is however unknown whether an acclimatization period is actually needed to reliably evaluate the effect of a new orthosis on gait. This study aimed to investigate whether specific gait parameters in children with cerebral palsy would change within an acclimatization period after being provided with new ankle-foot orthoses. Methods Ten children with cerebral palsy, walking with excessive knee flexion in midstance (8 boys; mean (SD) 10.2 (1.9) years; Gross Motor Function Classification System levels I-II) were provided with ventral shell ankle-foot orthoses. The orthoses were worn in combination with the child's own shoes and tuned, based on ground reaction force alignment with respect to the lower limb joints. Directly after tuning (T0) and four weeks later (T1), 3D-gait analysis was performed using an optoelectronic motion capture system and a force plate. From this assessment, ten spatiotemporal, kinematic and kinetic gait parameters were derived for the most affected leg. Differences in parameters between T0 and T1 were analyzed using paired t-tests or Wilcoxon signed rank tests (P 0.080) were observed for any investigated parameter. Interpretation These results imply that the biomechanical effect of ventral shell ankle-foot orthoses on gait in independent walking children with cerebral palsy is immediately apparent, i.e., there is no further change after acclimatization

Model compounds for light-emitting PPV's: Optical and structural data of substituted oligomers

Phenylene-vinylene oligomers are investigated as model compounds for the luminescent moiety of PPV-type homopolymers or copolymers having oligo(phenylenevinylene) units. Some of the rings carry substituents for improved solubility (as in PPV derivatives) and cyano groups have been substituted at various positions on the vinylene linkages. For several compounds single crystals have been obtained and their structure has been resolved, which allows the spectral response to be related to molecular conformation and packing. Thin film spectra demonstrate that cyano substitution results in a considerable red shift of the emission: a more planar conformation, pi-stacking and, possibly, dipolar interactions cooperate with the electronic effect of the cyano group. The use of a cyano-substituted five-ring compound in a multilayer LED was found to strongly increase the luminescence efficiency

Model compounds for light-emitting PPV's:Optical and structural data of substituted oligomers

Phenylene-vinylene oligomers are investigated as model compounds for the luminescent moiety of PPV-type homopolymers or copolymers having oligo(phenylenevinylene) units. Some of the rings carry substituents for improved solubility (as in PPV derivatives) and cyano groups have been substituted at various positions on the vinylene linkages. For several compounds single crystals have been obtained and their structure has been resolved, which allows the spectral response to be related to molecular conformation and packing. Thin film spectra demonstrate that cyano substitution results in a considerable red shift of the emission: a more planar conformation, pi-stacking and, possibly, dipolar interactions cooperate with the electronic effect of the cyano group. The use of a cyano-substituted five-ring compound in a multilayer LED was found to strongly increase the luminescence efficiency.</p