Alicia Nijdam-Jones

University of Manitoba | UMN · Department of Psychology

Indigenous youth in Canada and the United States of America (USA) have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the compounding of increased illness risk and legacies of colonization. This article reports the findings of a Cochrane rapid review of 23 studies that examined mental wellbeing outcomes for Indigenous youth from M...

COVID-19 poses serious challenges to the health and safety of childcare providers, and these challenges were particularly acute in early 2022 during the first Omicron wave when vaccines were not available for children. Childcare providers work in environments where the recommended methods to minimize COVID-19 infection were often not possible to im...

Canadian clinical forensic psychologists complete rigorous clinical training, yet their scope of practice is limited compared to clinical forensic psychologists in other countries. Specifically, Canadian psychologists typically do not conduct fitness to stand trial or criminal responsibility evaluations due to a stipulation in the Criminal Code of...

Objective:Individuals may be motivated to conceal or minimize psychological symptoms and engage in positive impression management (PIM) in order to achieve desired outcomes across high stakes contexts (e.g. fitness for duty evaluations, pre-sentencing assessments, medical procedure evaluations, civil commitment). Despite the importance of this topi...

This prospective study investigated the predictive validity of a culturally adapted version of the Historical-Clinical-Risk Management-20 (HCR-20V3) with a sample of 114 incarcerated males in a medium-security prison in Mexico City. The goal was to integrate a culturally responsive approach to violence risk assessment by incorporating culturally re...

Several meta-analyses of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2) and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form (MMPI-2-RF) have examined these instruments’ ability to detect symptom exaggeration or feigning. However, limited research has directly compared whether the scales across these two instruments are e...

Coaching individuals on test-taking strategies presents legal and ethical concerns and threatens the validity of psychological test score interpretations, which could lead to inaccuracies in clinical settings and injustices within the legal system. This meta-analysis examined the impact of coaching on the detection of symptom exaggeration or feigni...

This prospective study investigated the predictive validity of the Historical-Clinical-Risk Management–20, Version 3 (HCR-20 V3 ) in a sample of incarcerated males in a Mexico City prison. Data were collected from 114 male adults incarcerated in a medium-security prison in Mexico City. Participants were an average of 36.86 years old ( SD = 9.93 yea...

Many communities have created specialized mental health courts (MHCs) to reduce unnecessary criminal justice involvement of persons with mental disorders. Although MHCs have shown favorable public safety outcomes, such as reducing risk for criminal recidivism and violent behavior, there has been little study of issues important to consumers, such a...

Objective: This study synthesized the results of 22 studies (N = 3,912) of feigned posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms that used the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 (MMPI-2). Method: Robust variance estimation was used to analyze variables that affected the accuracy of scales used to detect feigned symptoms. Results: Th...

The ability to predict the likelihood of violent behavior is an important task that is not constrained by cultures, borders, or geographic regions. This qualitative study analyzed 15 semi-structured interviews with forensic professionals to understand violence risk assessment (VRA) processes and procedures in Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico. Partic...

Aparcero, M., Nijdam-Jones, A., Rosenfeld, B. & García-López, E. (2019). Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, Oct 17. Most cross-cultural research on sex offender risk assessment measures have simply examined translated risk assessment tools, developed primarily in United States, Canada, and Europe. This approach relies on the assumptio...

Introduction: Cognitive efforts tests, such as the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM), are widely used internationally, yet emerging research suggests that performance on the TOMM can be affected by culture and education. This study examined the specificity of the TOMM and performance differences among Colombian adults, contrasting those with varyin...

Despite several decades of growing interest in the concept of neurolaw in English-speaking countries, it is only a recent area of focus in Latin America. The objective of this article was to facilitate evidence-informed public policy by examining the current state of neurolaw in Latin America. To achieve this goal, this systematic review summarizes...

Research indicates that most stalking victims are harassed by a prior intimate partner and that this group of victims is at a higher risk for violence than other stalking victims. Furthermore, many researchers found a relationship between prior intimate partner stalking (IPS) and intimate partner violence (IPV). The present study focused on identif...

This study examined the correlates of stalking behavior and psychopathology among stalking offenders assessed using a rigorous diagnostic tool. A total of 137 stalking offenders were interviewed and diagnosed using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I and Axis II Disorders. Analyses examined the extent to which stalking behaviors and...

Assessment of sexual and nonsexual recidivism risk is important for juveniles who have offended sexually (JSOs). It is unclear whether clinicians who assess risk for both types of recidivism should use a JSO-specific measure alone or in combination with an assessment of other potential risk factors, such as psychopathy. Using a sample of 72 JSOs, t...

This chapter provides an overview of the literature on the treatment of psychopathy in adults. First, early treatment approaches are reviewed, with a particular focus on therapeutic communities. Next, studies examining the effectiveness of cognitive–behavioral therapy (CBT) for the treatment of psychopathy are summarized, including investigations o...

Cognitive efforts tests, such as the Test of Memory Malingering (TOMM; Tombaugh, 1997), are widely used internationally, yet there is a dearth of research that has assessed the utility of these measures in different cultures, countries, and languages. This study evaluated the specificity of the TOMM Trial 2 among a sample of 3,590 Spanish-speaking...

Techniques to assess violence risk are increasingly common, but no systematic approach exists to help clinicians decide which psychiatric patients are most in need of a violence risk assessment. The Fordham Risk Screening Tool (FRST) was designed to fill this void, providing a structured, systematic approach to screening psychiatric patients and de...

The cross-cultural validity of feigning instruments and cut-scores is a critical concern for forensic mental health clinicians. This systematic review evaluated feigning classification accuracy and effect sizes across instruments and languages by summarizing 45 published peer-reviewed articles and unpublished doctoral dissertations conducted in Eur...

ABSTRACTForensic service use was examined using self-report interview data from a prospective study of homeless persons with mental illness (N = 435) and administrative file review data from a Canadian forensic system. Of the study's participants, 41% had contact with forensic services, 40% had contact with community clinics, and 20% had been admit...

Background For people living with mental illness, recovery involves learning to overcome and manage their symptoms and striving to live fulfilling lives. The literature on achieving recovery emphasises the importance of social connections and positive role models. Hirschi's social bonding theory posits that an individual's attachment to others, bel...

Background: Mental health services are shifting toward approaches that promote patients' choices and acknowledge the value of their lived experiences. Objective: To support patients' recovery and improve their experiences of care in a Canadian forensic mental health hospital, an intervention was launched to increase patient engagement by establi...

This qualitative, participatory action research study examined treatment planning from the perspectives of 29 inpatients and 16 service providers at a Canadian forensic mental health hospital. Qualitative data produced by indepth interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Participants’ narratives clustered around six themes: (a) It's all abo...

Several questions remain unanswered regarding the extent to which the principles and practices of patient-centered care are achievable in the context of a forensic mental health hospital. This study examined patient-centered care from the perspectives of patients and providers in a forensic mental health hospital. Patient-centered care was assessed...