Die rekenaarmatige diagnose van psigiese versteurings by gevangenes

Article 1: The study evaluated the suitability of a DSM-IV based computerised diagnostic instrument (C-DIS) to be used in a South- African context. An availability sample consisting of 100 adult male prisoners was used. A total of 378 DSM-IV disorders were diagnosed, with antisocial personality disorder (60%), nicotine .dependence (58%) and alcohol dependence and misuse (50%) having the highest prevalence rates. Significant differences between language and racial groups were found, the most important being that (a) black (10.94%) and Coloured (9.68%) prisoners were more likely to suffer from specific phobia than white (4.30%) prisoners, (b) South-Sotho speaking prisoners (11.11%) were more phobic than Afrikaans speaking prisoners (6.88%), and (c) Coloureds were found to be the least depressed racial group. By examining the incidence of mental disorders, it was found that panic disorder (46.1%) and depression (15.4%) had the highest overall incidence during the previous year. Some disorders were more likely to develop during detention, the most notable being panic disorder (30.5%) and depression (16.9%). The vast majority (75%) of substance abuse disorders that developed in captivity were attributed to cannabis dependence. Crime-specific stressors were also identified as being the leading cause of posttraumatic stress disorder in prisoners. The results confirm that a computerised diagnostic instrument can be productively utilised to determine the epidemiology of psychopathology in a prison population.