Keywords
anger, violent offenders, violent crimes, learning disability, alcohol abuse, violent offending [, impulsivity, depression
In 2016, 2.2 million adults in Australia were estimated to have been victims of domestic violence by age 15 [Randomised control trials (RCT) represent the gold standard in medical research [One reason proposed to account for the lack of RCTs with offenders is that they fall into a group dubbed “hard to treat” by many researchers [Typically, RCTs with offenders report that around half of the sample is lost to attrition. For example, Butler et al., Coccaro et al., Cullen et al., Kraanen et al., Lardén, and Stone et al. report an average attrition rate of 53% [In Australia, those who commit violent crimes such as homicide, assault, sexual assault, and robbery, tend to commit repeat offences [Efforts to predict attrition of violent offenders in clinical trials and treatment programmes have identified “attrition risk factors” among offenders convicted of domestic violence or sex crimes (e.g. sexual assault or child sex offences). These include a lack of social support; a history of alcohol abuse or poor mental health; being younger, unemployed, single, childless, expelled from school, or an ethnic minority; and having low incomes, little formal education, a learning disability, insecure accommodation, dysfunctional expressions of anger, or prior history of criminality [A limited number of studies have looked at predicting attrition from clinical trials and treatment programmes among individuals who commit violent crimes other than domestic violence and sex crimes (e.g. armed robbery, grievous bodily harm, manslaughter, malicious wounding, or assault). These studies show that impulsivity, depression, and indigenous heritage are associated with attrition [This study aimed to identify factors that predict attrition from pharmacological-based treatments. Specifically, we investigated predictors of attrition in a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial (ReINVEST) by men with histories of repeat violent offending [