Gender differences in jail inmates' symptoms of mental illness, treatment history and treatment seeking

BACKGROUND: Rates of mental illness among prisoners are substantial, but little is known about the unique mental health needs of women in jail, those under pre-trial custodial remand or serving short sentences. AIMS: To compare male and female jail inmates along a wide range of symptoms of mental illness using identical assessment methods, and to examine gender differences in treatment seeking before and during incarceration. METHODS: Soon after incarceration in a county jail, 360 male and 154 female pre-trial and post-trial inmates completed the Personality Assessment Inventory, a wide-ranging measure of psychiatric symptoms. Treatment seeking information was taken from official jail records. RESULTS: Women were more likely to report clinically significant symptoms of anxiety, borderline personality features, somatic concerns and trauma-related symptoms; however, trauma-related symptoms and borderline features were also common among male inmates. Although both men and women reported high rates of drug-related problems, alcohol-related problems were twice as prevalent among male inmates. Female inmates were more likely to seek and be enrolled in jail-based treatment; there were no differences in reported help seeking prior to incarceration. CONCLUSIONS: Female jail inmates are especially in need of mental health services. Effective interventions for post-traumatic stress disorder and borderline personality disorder are needed in jail settings for both male and female inmates during incarceration and upon release.