BCCHR Researchers Find a Researcher

Tonia Nicholls

PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital
Professor, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC – Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission (FPSC)

The intersection of law and mental health is fraught with challenges for individuals living with mental illness, their families, and for criminal justice and mental health professionals, alike. My students and I focus our scholarly work at this important juncture and concentrate our research on projects that have strong bench-to-bedside application. Our study results are intended to have direct relevance and speedy application to shaping practice and policy decisions in civil, forensic, and correctional settings. We have several large-scale programs of research:

Our CIHR-funded PATHWAYS study is documenting and evaluating the Redevelopment of Riverview Hospital;

CIHR is also funding a study of risk assessment and risk management to inform treatment planning and ultimately improve outcomes among former BC Corrections inmates and probationers;

We developed a concise clinical measure for the assessment and management of risk to self and others (Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability, START);

We are also studying success and resiliency among individuals returning to the community following hospitalization and/or incarceration in jails and prison;

I am part of two national teams funded by the Mental Health Commission of Canada.The first project is studying mentally ill individuals who have come into conflict with the law and ultimately have been found 'not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder' in three Canadian provinces: Quebec, Ontario and BC (The National Trajectory Project). The second project is based on a "Housing First" approach. The At Home/Chez Soi Research Demonstration Project is investigating mental health and homelessness in five Canadian cities: Moncton, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg and Vancouver.

Tonia Nicholls

PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital Professor, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC – Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission (FPSC)

Academic Affiliations

Contact Information

Publications

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Assessing change in risk and protective factors: A case study and examination of the Violence Risk Scale-Youth Version, Short Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability: Adolescent Version, and a structured professional judgment approach to rating and formulating change.

Patterns of police interactions with people experiencing homelessness and mental illness

Not Criminally Responsible on Account of a Mental Disorder for a Homicide: Examining Gender Differences to Identify Opportunities for Early Prevention

Mental Health Needs, Substance Use, and Reincarceration: Population-Level Findings From a Released Prison Cohort

How Do Persons Found NCRMD and Identified as Indigenous Differ from Other Persons Found NCRMD: Profiles, Trajectories, and Outcomes

What Happens after Discharge from a Forensic Psychiatric Hospital?: An Analysis of Causally Complex Patterns of Recovery among People Found Non-criminally Responsible on Account of Mental Disorder

Perspectives on the COVID-19 Pandemic Response in a Forensic Psychiatric Hospital: Informing Future Planning

Assessing the confidence-accuracy relationship in risk assessments using the START: introducing calibration analysis

Individual, Service, and neighborhood predictors of aggression among mentally disordered persons

Childhood maltreatment and the risk for criminal justice involvement and victimization among homeless individuals

Adverse childhood experiences and the risk of criminal justice involvement and victimization among homeless adults with mental illness

Forensic mental health contacts among homeless mentally ill individuals.

Predictors of criminal justice system trajectories of homeless adults living with mental illness.

Factors Associated with Review Board Dispositions following Re-hospitalization among Discharged Persons found Not Criminally Responsible.

Housing Trajectories of Forensic Psychiatric Patients.

Identifying gender specific risk/need areas for male and female juvenile offenders: Factor analyses with the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY).

Profiles of criminal justice system involvement of mentally ill homeless adults.

The perceived impact of trauma-focused research with forensic psychiatric patients with lifetime victimization histories

Gender matters

Forensic mental health tribunals

Exploring gender differences in the utility of strength based risk assessment measures

Research Priorities in Mental Health, Justice, and Safety: A Multidisciplinary Stakeholder Report.

Supportive housing and forensic patient outcomes.

The national trajectory project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in Canada. Part 2: the people behind the label.

The national trajectory project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in Canada. Part 4: criminal recidivism.

The national trajectory project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in Canada. Part 3: trajectories and outcomes through the forensic system.

The national trajectory project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in Canada.

The national trajectory project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder in Canada. Part 1: context and methods.

The national trajectory project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. Part 5: how essential are gender-specific forensic psychiatric services?

The use of risk and need factors in forensic mental health decision-making and the role of gender and index offense severity.

La non-responsabilit criminelle pour cause de troubles mentaux (2014): Non criminellement responsable pour cause de troubles mentaux: Vers des pratiques et des politiques informes

Childhood and adolescent characteristics of women with high versus low psychopathy scores

Dynamic and static factors associated with discharge dispositions: the national trajectory project of individuals found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder (NCRMD) in Canada.

Criminal behavior and victimization among homeless individuals with severe mental illness: a systematic review.

Predictive validity of risk assessments in juvenile offenders: Comparing the SAVRY, PCL:YV, and YLS/CMI with unstructured clinical assessments.

Towards a national agenda on mental health and criminal justice

The validity of Version 3 of the HCR-20 violence risk assessment scheme amongst offenders and civil psychiatric patients

Predictive validity of dynamic factors: assessing violence risk in forensic psychiatric inpatients.

Redevelopment of tertiary psychiatric services in British Columbia: a prospective study of clinical, social, and residential outcomes of former long-stay inpatients.

Risk assessment in intimate partner violence

Personality disorders, types of violence and stress responses in females who perpetuate intimate partner violence

Using dynamic risk and protective factors to predict inpatient aggression: reliability and validity of START assessments.

Risk assessment instruments in clinical practice.

Pilot Implementation and Preliminary Evaluation of START:AV Assessments in Secure Juvenile Correctional Facilities.

Assessment of Multiple Risk Outcomes, Strengths, and Change with the START:AV: A Short-Term Prospective Study with Adolescent Offenders.

Prevalence of physical violence in intimate relationships

Taking Stock and Taking Steps: The Case for an Adolescent Version of the Short-Assessment of Risk and Treatability.

To detain or to release? Correlates of dispositions for individuals declared not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder.

Resilience and successful community reintegration among female forensic psychiatric patients: a preliminary investigation.

The impact of realigning a provincial tertiary hospital system on other institutional sectors

International trends in demand for forensic mental health services

Protective factors in forensic psychiatry

A narrative review of the effectiveness of aggression management training programs for psychiatric hospital staff

Chronic violent patients in an inpatient psychiatric hospital

Individuals found Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder

A narrative review of the effectiveness of aggression management training programs for psychiatric hospital staff.

Forensic psychiatric inpatients and aggression: an exploration of incidence, prevalence, severity, and interventions by gender.

Mentally ill individuals in limbo: obstacles and opportunities for providing psychiatric services to corrections inmates with mental illness.

Domestic violence and child custody

Risk assessment: Are current methods applicable to women

Confidence and accuracy in assessments of short term risks presented by forensic psychiatric patients

Perceptions of motives in intimate partner violence: expressive versus coercive violence.

Intimate partner abuse of older men: considerations for the assessment of risk.

The Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START): a prospective validation study in a forensic psychiatric sample.

Short-Term Assessment of Risk and Treatability (START): The case for a new structured professional judgment scheme.

Of mice and men: will the intersection of social science and genetics create new approaches for intimate partner violence?

Female perpetrators of intimate abuse

Psychopathy in women: a review of its clinical usefulness for assessing risk for aggression and criminality.

The gender paradigm in domestic violence research and theory

Gender and psychopathy: an overview of important issues and introduction to the special issue.

Assessing risk for violence among male and female civil psychiatric patients: the HCR-20, PCL:SV, and VSC.

Women inmates' mental health needs

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital
Professor, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, UBC – Forensic Psychiatric Services Commission (FPSC)