The accuracy of HADS in detecting emotional distress in male prisoners

World Conference on Psychology, Counselling and Guidance (WCPCG 2010) -- APR 22-25, 2010 -- Antalya, TURKEYWOS: 000287160900017In forensic settings, it is impractical to expect psychiatrists or psychologists to carry out lengthy clinical interviews to detect emotional distress given the large number of prisoners. Self-report measures offer a better alternative for detecting emotional distress. With a sample of 400 newly incarcerated male prisoners, this study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of the HADS Unitary Scale in detecting emotional distress as compared to the GHQ-12. The optimal threshold on the HADS Unitary Scale for detecting emotional distress was 15 with 88.9% sensitivity, 73.9% specificity, 83% positive predictive value and 17% misclassification rate. The HADS Unitary Scale was effective in identifying prisoners who were emotionally distressed. This may therefore be used as a screening measure in the male prison population. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved