Kaitlyn Mclachlan

• Ph.D.
• Professor at University of Guelph

Given the frequency of cases resolved by guilty pleas, associated legal and collateral consequences, and developmental factors relevant to both youth and young adults that may impact psycholegal abilities, a growing body of research has explored plea understanding and decision making in these populations. This scoping review was conducted to map th...

Adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) often have challenges with executive functioning (EF), which impacts their ability to self-regulate. In this study, 23 adolescents with FASD completed a self-regulation intervention. The intervention was a manualized Teen Adaptation of the Alert Program®. A nonrandomized waitlist control desig...

Background Screening for fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) has been identified as a promising approach to improve recognition, understanding and effective response to the unique needs of those with FASD in criminal legal settings. However, to date, there has been limited synthesis of relevant screening tools, indicators, or implementation cons...

Overrepresented and often misunderstood, adverse outcomes such as justice system involvement have been a dominant storyline in the FASD literature; this is neither an inevitable outcome, nor one that will impact all individuals with FASD. Increased understanding of the mechanisms that influence development, behavior, and action should inform our re...

Increasing evidence highlights the relevance and frequent consideration of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in Canadian criminal legal cases, though systematic evaluation of the impact of such evidence on legal outcomes remains limited. We sought to fill this gap via a systematic review of reported Canadian criminal cases mentioning evidence...

Background Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) resulting from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder, but substantial interindividual heterogeneity complicates timely and accurate assessment, diagnosis, and intervention. The current study aimed to identify classes of children and adolescents with PAE assessed for...

The need to improve identification and understanding of individuals who have fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), including their strengths and challenges, is being increasingly recognized. Identification of FASD via screening is an important system-level intervention that may serve to improve early and accurate recognition of individuals who ma...

The need to improve identification and understanding of individuals who have fetal alcohol spectrum dis-order (FASD), including their strengths and challenges, is being increasingly recognized. Identification of FASD via screening is an important system-level intervention that may serve to improve early and accurate recognition of individuals who m...

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a multifaceted disability, characterized not only by brain- and body-based challenges, but also high rates of environmental adversity, lifelong difficulties with daily living, and distinct sociocultural considerations. FASD is one of the most common neurodevelopmental disabilities in the Western world and a...

For many years, researchers have explored the complex challenges experienced by individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). This research has been important for documenting the brain‐ and body‐based impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure and the psychosocial vulnerabilities and environmental adversities frequently associated with FASD. I...

The purpose of this chapter is to provide an overview of the relevance of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in the context of adjudicative competency, from initial interactions with police at arrest through interrogation and adjudication at trial. Individuals with FASD experience contact with the criminal justice system at elevated rates and a...

Background Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder that is caused by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) and associated with a range of cognitive, affective, and health concerns. Although the identification of FASD can facilitate the provision of interventions and support, and plays a protective role against ad...

Children with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) experience a range of adverse outcomes that impact multiple domains of functioning, including cognitive, physical, mental health, behavioral, social-emotional, communication, and learning. To inform tailored clinical intervention, the current study examined the relation between caregiver-reported cognit...

Deficits in reward decision-making are thought to contribute to criminal offending. These impairments have been measured in laboratory studies using the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) which assesses implicit learning of different reward/punishment contingencies. This study compared IGT performance between a sample of justice-involved individuals and comm...

Individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol, are overrepresented in criminal justice settings and have complex, forensically relevant clinical needs. This study surveyed 81 forensic clinicians recruited via international professional association listserv postings and...

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a multifaceted disability, associated not only with complex brain- and body-based challenges, but also with high rates of environmental adversity, diverse sociocultural contexts, and lifelong difficulties with daily living. It is important to consider the complexities of FASD, and the ways in which FASD req...

Adolescents with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) experience a range of cognitive, behavioral, and physical difficulties, including difficulties with self-regulation. We investigated self-regulation strategy use in adolescents with FASD who completed a self-regulation intervention program. The intervention was an adapted version of the Alert...

There is limited evidence to inform effective screening practices for identifying fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in forensic mental health settings. This study sought to explore the potential use of four FASD screening tools in a Canadian forensic mental health program. In total, 151 patient charts were screened using the FASD Screening and...

Individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) have a heightened sensitivity to stress because of the brain-based impacts of prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). There are also disproportionately high rates of chronic and complex adversity among people with FASD, which differentiates them from other disability groups. In order to address these...

Individuals with prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) exhibit neurological deficits associated with brain injury including smaller brain volumes. Additional risk factors such as lower socioeconomic status (SES) may also have an impact on brain development for this population. This study examined how brain volumes are related to SES in both neurotypicall...

Objectives A number of commonly used performance validity tests (PVTs) may be prone to high failure rates when used for individuals with severe neurocognitive deficits. This study investigated the validity of 10 PVT scores in justice-involved adults with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), a neurodevelopmental disability stemming from prenatal...

Deficits in impulse control have been linked to criminal offending, risk of recidivism, and other maladaptive behaviours relevant to the criminal justice system (e.g. substance use). Impulse control can be conceptualized as encompassing the broad domains of response inhibition and impulsive/risky decision‐making. Advancements in technology have led...

Background Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is linked to alterations of cerebral white matter, including volume and nonspecific diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) indices of microstructure in humans. Some animal models of PAE have demonstrated myelination deficiencies, but myelin levels have not yet been evaluated in individuals with PAE. Mu...

Background Individuals with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) experience a range of cognitive, affective, and physical deficits following prenatal alcohol exposure. They are thought to be overrepresented in criminal justice settings. However, limited evidence is available to inform prevalence. We sought to estimate the prevalence of FASD in a...

Despite the high prevalence of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) in youth criminal justice settings, there is currently no research supporting the use of violence risk assessment tools in this population. This study examined the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) and the Youth Level of Service/Ca...

It has been well-documented that individuals with FASD are over-represented in the criminal justice system. Individuals with FASD display a variety of cognitive impairments (particularly in the areas of executive functioning and memory) that likely contribute to poor functional and adaptive outcomes, and ultimately legal issues. Unfortunately, thes...

Children and adolescents with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) experience significant impairments in cognitive functioning, though substantial within-group heterogeneity is often observed. The purpose of this study was to characterize the cognitive profile of children and adolescents with FASD with a special focus on examining moderators of f...

Aggression jeopardizes positive development in children and predicts social and academic maladjustment in school. The present study determined the relationships among anger dysregulation (a marker of emotion regulation), cortisol activity (a biomarker of stress), and peer-nominated aggression in typically developing children in their everyday class...

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is impacted by a multitude of pre- and postnatal factors. Developmental programming of HPA axis function by prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) has been demonstrated in animal models and in human infants, but remains understudied in older children and adolescents. Moreover, early life adversity (ELA), which...

Background Children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) experience a range of cognitive, emotional, and behavioral challenges. Early assessment, diagnosis, and intervention are critical protective factors against adverse outcomes in FASD. However, FASD evaluations can be challenging in preschoolers and limited guidance is available to info...

Background There is a growing need for validated tools to screen children at risk of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD). The Neurobehavioral Screening Tool (NST) is one of several promising screening measures for FASD, though further evidence is needed to establish the tool's psychometric utility. Objective To assess the predictive accuracy of...

Transition from paediatric to adult health care services is fraught with challenges in multiple domains (1) including future health care use, educational and vocational trajectories, family and social life, self-fulfillment and quality of life. Significant gaps in the transition process exist (2–4) and involve both paediatric and adult health care...

Individuals with a diagnosis of fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) experience a range of physical, cognitive, and behavioral deficits thought to interfere with their ability to competently navigate the arrest, interrogation, and trial process. This study examined the psycholegal abilities of young offenders with FASD, including their understand...

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a lifelong disorder with no cure and is accompanied by neurological deficits. FASD is a health concern that is increasingly gaining attention within the justice system. Research has identified an association between delinquency and prenatal alcohol exposure. This study looked at resources of resilience for...

This study aimed to further clarify the association between interrogative suggestibility and Miranda rights comprehension in adolescents; in particular, we examined whether intellectual ability (IQ) serves as a mediator of this relationship. Participants completed Grisso's Miranda Instruments, the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence, and the...

This study surveyed 199 forensic clinicians about the practices that they use in assessing violence risk in juvenile and adult offenders. Results indicated that the use of risk assessment and psychopathy tools was common. Although clinicians reported more routine use of psychopathy measures in adult risk assessments compared with juvenile risks ass...

Research indicates that a sizable proportion of adolescent defendants have difficulty understanding and participating in legal proceedings against them, and may be incompetent to stand trial. To examine attorneys' experience in defending adolescents with competence-related difficulties, 214 juvenile attorneys were surveyed. Findings indicated that...

The purpose of this study was to: (1) Establish whether or not specific rehabilitation for mild brain injury is effective for return to work; and (2) compare the efficacy of an impairment-focused model of treatment versus an early education approach in respect to ability to return to work. Two different approaches to intervention and treatment for...

Defendants can be found incompetent to stand trial, under provisions in criminal law, if they are unable to understand their legal circumstances and participate adequately in their defense. If they are found incompetent, further judicial proceedings are suspended until their competency has been restored. The purposes behind this procedure are to en...