Theses and Dissertations

Date of Award

2019

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

College of Psychology

First Advisor

David L. Shapiro

Second Advisor

Ryan A. Black

Third Advisor

James Pann

Keywords

clinical psychology, in-patient hospitalization, long-term treatment, restoration predictors, restoration to competency, trial competency

Abstract

Trial competency is the foremost context in which forensic evaluators interact with criminal courts in the United States, and court-ordered restoration to competency (RTC) substantially contributes to hospitalization via the criminal justice system. Predictors of restoration to competency (RTC) have been extensively studied to date, yet few studies have been conducted with RTC patients in a long-term setting. The present study aimed to examine predictors of successful restoration for defendants who underwent RTC from a long-term inpatient facility in Texas from 2012 to 2017. Patients (N = 261) were compared across retrospective demographic, clinical, and criminogenic factors via binary logistic regression analysis at one and two years of treatment. At one year of treatment or less, age at admission and ethnicity significantly predicted restoration outcomes, while diagnosis type (schizophrenia vs. schizoaffective disorder) trended towards having greater odds of restoring for patients with a schizoaffective disorder diagnosis. At two years of treatment or less, age at admission, ethnicity, and diagnosis type significantly predicted restoration success. Level of felony degree accusation did not predict restoration success at either time period, nor did diagnosis moderate the relationship between age at admission and restoration. Findings suggest that this long-term restoration sample differs from typical restoration populations regarding the relationships that ethnicity and psychotic disorder diagnosis type share with restoration outcomes. Additional long-term restoration studies are needed to examine if significant predictors from the current study predict outcomes in other populations.

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