The effect of indefinite pretrial incarceration on the anxiety level of an urban jail population

This study investigated the effect of indefinite incarceration on the anxiety levels of males (N = 60) held in a large metropolitan county jail. The IPAT Anxiety Scale Questionnaire (Self Analysis Form) was administered to 60 male Ss (18 to 26 years of age) at intervals of 1 weeks and 8 weeks after incarceration. An analysis of variance, one-way with repeated measures, on the matching IPAT Anxiety Scale scores revealed a highly significant increase in anxiety (p less than .001) from 1 week to 8 weeks. A Newman-Keuls posttest comparison also indicated that anxiety levels rose significantly (p less than .001). The results suggested that indefinite pretrail incarceration can increase anxiety to a level of psychological morbidity. The possible effect of this finding upon the guarantee of a right to speedy trial was discussed.