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Exposure to nature can enhance mental well-being, making nature-based interventions promising for the treatment and prevention of mental health problems like depression. Given the decreased self-focus and sense of self-diminishment associated with awe, the present study investigated the impact of exposure to awe-evoking nature on two key risk and maintenance factors of depression-repetitive negative thinking (RNT) and dampening of positive feelings-and on subjective happiness. In a randomized controlled trial, we tested the effects of exposure to awe-evoking nature clips through a 1-week intervention, consisting of watching a 1-min clip on a daily basis of either awe-evoking (n high awe = 108) or more mundane nature scenes (n low awe = 105). Before, immediately after (post-intervention) and 1 week after the intervention (follow-up), participants completed self-report scales probing RNT, dampening, and subjective happiness. Results indicated significant decreases in these outcomes at post-intervention and follow-up in both groups. We discuss study limitations, touch upon future research ideas, and reflect upon the role of nature for clinical applications., (© 2024 International Association of Applied Psychology.)

We conducted a pre-registered meta-analysis of studies that directly compared the predictive validity of risk assessment tools to unstructured judgments of risk for violent, any, or sexual offending. A total of 31 studies, containing 169 effect sizes from 45,673 risk judgments, met inclusion criteria. Based on the results of three-level mixed-effects meta-regression models, the predictive validity of total scores on risk assessment tools was significantly higher than that of unstructured judgments for predictions of violent, any, and sexual offending. Tools continued to outperform unstructured judgments after accounting for risk of bias. This finding was also robust to variations in population, assessment context, and outcome measurement. Although this meta-analysis provides support for the use of risk assessment tools, it also highlights limitations and gaps that future research should address., (© 2024 The Author(s). Behavioral Sciences & the Law published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

This study examined the perceived costs, benefits, and motivations for participating in individual trauma-focused interviews among forensic psychiatric patients ( N = 74). The majority of our participants were male, and 100% endorsed adverse childhood experiences (e.g., abuse, neglect) or exposure to potentially traumatic events (e.g., assault). Levels of posttraumatic avoidance (41.9%), reexperiencing (59.5%), and increased arousal (51.3%) were high. In line with previous studies, our findings suggest an overall positive research experience in this sample. In spite of extensive histories of lifetime victimization we did not find an association between victimization, posttraumatic symptomatology, and a negative research experience. Our findings suggest that participation in trauma-focused research is not only possible with, but also potentially beneficial for forensic patients.