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. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.