Violence risk assessment in forensic patients using HCR-20v3 : interrater reliability and concurrent validity

Abstract

This study provides evidence on the inter-rater reliability and concurrent validity of the Historical, Clinical and Risk Management-20, Version 3 (HCR 20V3) in a sample of 35 patients admitted to a forensic psychiatric unit in Argentina. The HCR 20V3 showed significant correlations with the VRAG-R and the PCL: SV. HCR-20V3 was independently coded by two evaluators in 15 patients. The inter-rater reliability indices were moderate to excellent in the coding of presence of risk factors and in the estimation of the summary risk ratings of future violence and imminent violence, although ICC were non-significant for the summary risk rating of serious physical damage. These findings have implications for the HCR-20V3 implementation in local professional contexts and raise future research possibilities which could be relevant for decision-making in violence risk management with patients committed to legal security measures.