RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Post-traumatic Stress Disorder in HIV-Positive Incarcerated Women
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 455
OP 464
VO 33
IS 4
A1 Lewis, Catherine F.
YR 2005
UL http://jaapl.org/content/33/4/455.abstract
AB The primary objective of this study was to examine a sample (n = 81) of HIV-positive incarcerated women to compare those with and thosewithout a diagnosis of lifetime post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with respect to demographics and legal, psychiatric, and health utilization histories. A secondary objective was to describe the prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the sample. Eighty-one women were interviewed with the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID-P), SCID II, and the Clinician Administered Post-traumatic Stress Scale for DSM-IV (CAPS). Women with lifetime PTSD (n = 60) were more likely than those without (n = 21) to be white or Hispanic and to have a history of arrests for prostitution, risky sexual behavior, and intravenous drug use. Women with lifetime PTSD were also more likely to have had outpatient psychiatric treatment, treatment with psychiatric medications, suicide attempts, lifetime cannabis abuse/dependence, lifetime major depression, and antisocial personality disorder. These results suggest that HIV-positive female inmates with lifetime PTSD are a complex population who are likely to need careful psychiatric assessment, and medical and mental health treatment.