Characteristics of Aggressive Behavior among Male Inpatients with Schizophrenia

BACKGROUND: The incidence of the aggressive behavior is higher among the patients with severe mental disorder such as schizophrenia than the general population. The study of factors related to aggressive behavior has great meaning in designing prevention and intervention methods with this population of patients. AIMS: To understand the characteristics of assaultive behavior of male patients with schizophrenia who have been hospitalized. METHODS: Using a continuous sampling method, data from 75 male inpatients with a diagnosis of schizophrenia was collected at the psychiatric unit of Central South University Second Xiangya Hospital (Changsha, China) from August 2015 to February 2016.On the third day after hospitalization participants were given a general questionnaire as well as being assessed using the modified overt aggression scale (MOAS), historical clinical risk management-20 (HCR-20) questionnaire, hare psychopathic checklist-revised (PCL-R), and positive and negative syndrome scale (PANSS).Based on results of the MOAS participants were group into an ‘aggressive behavior’ group (39 cases) and ‘non-aggressive behavior’ group (36 cases). The differences in socio-demographic characteristics and scores on the other evaluation tools were then compared between these two groups. RESULTS: Participants in the ‘aggressive behavior’ group had significantly different scores in the HCR-20 in the H1 (past violence events), H2 (violent events when young), H10 (disobedience in the past), and C4 (impulsiveness) sections; as well in the anti-social section of PCL-R; and significantly higher PANSS scores in the positive symptom, depressive symptoms and paranoid symptom sections than those in the ‘non-aggressive behavior’ group. CONCLUSIONS: A combination of adverse and traumatic life events such as a history of violence, vulnerabilities in ones personality (e.g. impulsive or antisocial tendencies) and psychopathology of current illness (e.g. significant anxiety and depressive symptoms) contribute to aggressive behavior in male inpatients with schizophrenia. Our results contribute to the literature that will hopefully aid in ensuring patient and staff safety, as well as providing more information in working with this vulnerable population.