Consistent with nationwide trends, the number of defendants judicially ordered to the California Department of State Hospitals (DSH) for competency restoration has nearly doubled in recent years. Previous research has shown that the majority of the time, judicial rulings on competency reflect forensic evaluators' opinions. Thus, the quality of competency to stand trial (CST) reports is critical. We examined 388 CST reports from defendants who were ultimately found incompetent to stand trial and admitted to a state hospital for restoration in 2012-2013. We evaluated the reports for adherence to both professional guidelines and current literature on the appropriate conduct of CST evaluations. Consistent with previous studies, our results showed that the reports evidenced overall poor quality and evaluators were largely unable to accurately describe the nature of the mental illness or explain how clinical factors (i.e., diagnoses or symptoms) impacted CST abilities. Notably, we found that experts board certified in psychiatry or psychology produced reports of higher quality. These findings demonstrate the continued poor quality of CST reports and highlight the importance of training. As in previous similar studies, we recommend mandatory training for experts conducting CST evaluations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

中文翻译：

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持续的、低质量的受审能力报告：培训重要吗？

与全国趋势一致，近年来，司法命令加州州立医院 (DSH) 恢复能力的被告人数几乎翻了一番。先前的研究表明，大多数时候，关于能力的司法裁决反映了法医评估人员的意见。因此，受审能力 (CST) 报告的质量至关重要。我们审查了 388 份来自被告的 CST 报告，这些被告最终在 2012 年至 2013 年间被认定无法接受审判并被送往州立医院进行修复。我们评估了报告是否符合专业指南和有关适当进行 CST 评估的当前文献。与以往的研究一致，我们的结果表明，报告证明总体质量较差，评估人员在很大程度上无法准确描述精神疾病的性质或解释临床因素（即诊断或症状）如何影响 CST 能力。值得注意的是，我们发现获得精神病学或心理学认证的专家委员会产生的报告质量更高。这些调查结果表明 CST 报告的质量仍然很差，并强调了培训的重要性。与之前的类似研究一样，我们建议对进行 CST 评估的专家进行强制性培训。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。我们发现，获得精神病学或心理学认证的专家委员会产生的报告质量更高。这些调查结果表明 CST 报告的质量仍然很差，并强调了培训的重要性。与之前的类似研究一样，我们建议对进行 CST 评估的专家进行强制性培训。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。我们发现，获得精神病学或心理学认证的专家委员会产生的报告质量更高。这些调查结果表明 CST 报告的质量仍然很差，并强调了培训的重要性。与之前的类似研究一样，我们建议对进行 CST 评估的专家进行强制性培训。（PsycInfo 数据库记录 (c) 2022 APA，保留所有权利）。