Structural, item, and test generalizability of the psychopathology checklist - revised to offenders with intellectual disabilities

The Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) is the most widely used measure of psychopathy in forensic clinical practice, but the generalizability of the measure to offenders with intellectual disabilities (ID) has not been clearly established. This study examined the structural equivalence and scalar equivalence of the PCL-R in a sample of 185 male offenders with ID in forensic mental health settings, as compared with a sample of 1,212 male prisoners without ID. Three models of the PCL-R’s factor structure were evaluated with confirmatory factor analysis. The 3-factor hierarchical model of psychopathy was found to be a good fit to the ID PCL-R data, whereas neither the 4-factor model nor the traditional 2-factor model fitted. There were no cross-group differences in the factor structure, providing evidence of structural equivalence. However, item response theory analyses indicated metric differences in the ratings of psychopathy symptoms between the ID group and the comparison prisoner group. This finding has potential implications for the interpretation of PCL-R scores obtained with people with ID in forensic psychiatric settings

Mafia and psychopathy

Background In popular culture, Mafia members are often portrayed as ruthless, callous and remorseless, but there is no empirical research on their personality traits. Aims The goal of this research was to examine levels of psychopathic traits among Mafia members who have been convicted of a criminal offence. Methods The Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) rated 30 Italian adult male prisoners who had been convicted for Mafia-related crimes (86% resident in one 6-month period) and 39 next adjacent convicted men who were not enrolled in any criminal organisation. Results Mafia members obtained lower PCL-R total scores, interpersonal and affective (PCL-R factor 1) scores and lifestyle scores (factor 2) than the other offenders. Logistic regression analysis showed that lower PCL-R factor 1 scores with higher factor 2 scores in the absence of a history of substance misuse disorder distinguished Mafia from non-Mafia offenders. A probability curve confirmed an exponential growth in the probability of classification as a Mafia member in relation to lower PCL-R factor 1 scores. Conclusions Our findings bring new hope for resocialisation of convicted Mafia members, because they showed significant antisocial traits but they maintained a capacity for emotional connection and greater likelihood of engaging with training and resocialisation programmes than other imprisoned offenders in Italy

Critical evaluation of psychopathy measurement (PCL-R and SRP-III/SF) and recommendations for future research

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to review, summarize, and critically engage with the most recent findings into the dimensionality of the PCL-R, SRP-III, and SRP-SF. Another objective was to provide a set of directions for future research. Methods: A search in PubMed, PsychInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, and Google Scholar was performed. Twenty-one studies examining the dimensionality of the PCL-R and 11 studies assessing the factor structure of the SRP-III and SRP-SF were identified. Results: A critical review of the studies revealed inconsistent findings as to the underlying structure of the PCL-R and SRP-III/SF. Research has been limited by methodological and conceptual weaknesses, which calls into question the applicability of its findings. As such, it is suggested that prior results should be interpreted with caution. Conclusion: Future research should test competing models derived on the basis of previous research and theory, report the results of a differential predictive validity or alternative test, provide all relevant fit indices, utilize new data sets of appropriate size, avoid parceling procedures with short scales, and report the results of composite reliability. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Propuesta de triangulación de técnicas de credibilidad del testimonio (CBCA) en conjunto con el SEG de arce y fariña y el PCL-R de hare en agresores sexuales en el contexto colombiano

La siguiente investigación plantea una propuesta teórica para usar en conjunto las técnicas de credibilidad del testimonio (CBCA), el Sistema de Evaluación Global (SEG) y el PCL-R de Hare en agresores sexuales. Se realizó una revisión bibliográfica de la psicología forense, los agresores sexuales, parafilias, psicopatía, PCL-R, Credibilidad del testimonio y el SEG. En metodología se hizo un estudio de corte cualitativo con un diseño de investigación descriptivo y se recogió información a partir de un grupo de discusión. En los resultados se obtuvo que es de importancia antes de aplicar la propuesta revisar los documentos aportados al proceso, que se debe respetar el principio de no autoincriminación y que es de principal utilidad esta propuesta para evaluar a los agresores sexuales reincidentes especializados. Entre las conclusiones está que la propuesta puede ser utilizada en conjunto con otras pruebas psicotécnicas para aumentar su validez y confiabilidad, y que deben realizarse más investigaciones junto una validación y aplicación piloto a poblaciones con el fin de mejorar, desarrollar y perfeccionar la propuesta.The investigation makes a theoretical proposal by using the techniques of Witness Credibility (CBCA), Hare s PCL-R and Global Evaluation System (GES) in sexual aggressors. A bibliographical revision of the forensic psychology was made, along with sexual aggressors, paraphilias, psychopathy, PCL-R, Witness Credibility, and GES. It was made with a qualitative study with a descriptive investigation design while information was gathered by a discussion group. In results it was found that is if vital importance before applying the proposal, revising the documents brought to the process, also it was found that the no autoincrimination principle must be respected and most important, the principal utility of this proposal for the sexual specialized relapsing aggressors. In conclusions it is proposed that this investigation should be used among other psychometric tests in order to validity and reliability to be risen, and more investigations along with validations should be done so this proposal to be improved, developed and perfected.Psicólogo (a)Pregrad

Psicopatia e reconhecimento de faces emocionais em presidiárias

JUSTIFICATIVA: Psicopatas apresentam prejuízos relacionados ao processamento emocional. Dados sobre a habilidade de reconhecer faces emocionais não são convergentes. Estudos anteriores apresentam ausência de convergência metodológica, principalmente em relação ao tempo de exposição dos estímulos, e viés de sexo nas amostras, com a maioria dos estudos com foco em amostras masculinas. A presente dissertação teve como objetivo geral investigar características da psicopatia em mulheres presidiárias, sendo composta por dois estudos empíricos. O primeiro estudo objetivou verificar o reconhecimento de expressões faciais de emoções em psicopatas e o segundo estudo investigou se a psicopatia apresentada pela mesma amostra mostra-se isomorfa ao Transtorno da Personalidade Antissocial (TPA) ou se pode ser discriminante para diferentes padrões de pontuação para os critérios de TPA.MÉTODO: 109 presidiárias da cidade de Porto Alegre – Brasil foram avaliadas e, com base nos escores do PCL-R e SCID-II, foram formados três grupos: 1) 33 presidiárias com psicopatia (PCL-R ≥ 30); 2) 43 presidiárias com TPA (PCL-R < 20); e 3) 33 presidiárias sem nenhum transtorno da personalidade (grupo controle) (PCL-R < 10). No primeiro estudo as participantes responderam a uma tarefa de reconhecimento de expressões faciais de emoções. No segundo estudo, foi utilizada Análise de Classes Latentes, com base nos escores dos mesmos instrumentos, para verificar se a psicopatia distingue entre classes latentes as presidiárias com diagnóstico clínico de TPA.RESULTADOS: O primeiro estudo revelou déficits significativos no reconhecimento de emoções negativas (medo, tristeza e nojo) no grupo de psicopatas, com maior tamanho de efeito observado no processamento de medo, especificamente quando os estímulos foram apresentados em 200 ms. Também foram verificados déficits no grupo de TPA para a emoção de medo e de nojo no tempo mais breve de exposição em comparação ao grupo controle. No segundo estudo foram identificadas três classes latentes com diferentes graus de TPA. As participantes com diagnóstico clínico de TPA encaixaram-se em duas classes latentes com níveis significativamente diferentes de psicopatia. Mulheres com escore no PCL-R ≥ 30 fixaram-se quase exclusivamente dentro da classe de TPA grave, enquanto TPA moderado quase não conteve participantes com escore no PCL-R ≥ 30.CONCLUSÃO: A presente dissertação corrobora com os dados sobre prejuízos no reconhecimento de expressões faciais de emoções em psicopatas com resultados inéditos na literatura para a população feminina. Os dados confirmam a hipótese de que déficits mais específicos de processamento emocional nessa população são apresentados a um nível reduzido do tempo de exposição em condições experimentais. Além disso, foram verificadas evidências empíricas inéditas de que presidiárias com diagnóstico de TPA compreendem uma população heterogênea, como os níveis mais elevados de psicopatia sendo encontrados apenas em um subconjunto de presidiárias acima do limiar clínico para TPA.BACKGROUND: Psychopaths show impairments in emotional processing. Data about their ability to recognize emotional faces are not convergent. Prior studies revealed a lack of methodological convergence, in particular in relation to the exposure time of the stimuli, and on the sex bias of the sample with the majority of the studies focusing on male participants. This thesis aimed to investigate characteristics of psychopathy in female offenders, consisting of two empirical studies. The first study aimed to verify the recognition of facial expressions of emotion in psychopaths, being the first study to test the control of exposure time of 200 ms in the female sample. The second study investigated whether, in the same sample, psychopathy is isomorphic to Antisocial Personality Disorder (APD) or if a discriminative pattern of scores on APD criteria is observed.METHOD: 109 female offenders from Porto Alegre city – Brazil were evaluated and, based on the PCL-R and SCID-II scores, three groups were formed: 1) female psychopathic inmates (PCL-R ≥ 30; n=33); 2) female antisocial (APD) non-psychopathic inmates (PCL-R < 20, n=43); and 3) female inmates without any personality disorder (control group) (PCL-R < 10, n=33). In the first study, participants completed a facial affect recognition task. In the second study, we used Latent Class Analysis based on the scores of the same measures to check whether psychopathy distinguishes between latent class female offenders with clinical diagnosis of APD.RESULTS: The first study revealed significant deficits in negative emotions (fear, sadness and disgust) in the psychopathic group, with the highest effect size being observed in processing of fear precisely when the stimuli were presented in 200 ms. Deficits were also observed in the APD group to the emotion of fear and disgust in shorter exposure times compared to the control group. In the second we identified three latent class with varying degrees of APD. Participants with a clinical diagnosis of APD fell into two latent class with significantly different mean scores on PCL-R psychopathy. Females with PCL-R total scores ≥ 30 fell almost exclusively within the Severe APD class; the Moderate APD class had almost no individuals with a PCL-R total score ≥ 30.CONCLUSION: The present work corroborates the data about the impairments in facial emotion recognition in psychopaths with unprecedented results in the literature for female samples. Data confirm that the more specific deficits shown by psychopaths are only observed in a reduced exposure time experimental stimulus. Moreover, we found novel empirical evidence that female offenders with clinical APD comprise a heterogeneous population, as higher levels of psychopathy only occurred in a subset of women above the clinical threshold for APD

Assessing Juvenile Psychopathy: Developmental and Legal Implications

Psychopath. The word alone evokes powerful emotions and images. Attaching that label to a juvenile offender is a serious charge, and should be done so with caution, especially given that the standard assessment tools for psychopathy were originally developed for adults, not juveniles. As the MacArthur Research Network on Adolescent Development and Juvenile Justice has shown, and as the U.S. juvenile justice system recognizes, adolescent offenders are different from adults in important ways. Therefore, simply applying adult measures of psychopathy to juveniles may overlook important aspects of their developmental stage. The Network has supported research examining the course of psychopathy from adolescent into adulthood, asking in essence: Once a psychopath, always a psychopath

Psychopathy and Mortality

It is not known how mortality differs between psychopathic and nonpsychopathic individuals. We linked data from subjects having been in forensic mental examinations at Niuvanniemi Hospital during 1984–1993 to the data from the National Death Registry to estimate the association between psychopathy and mortality. One hundred psychopathic individuals scoring 25 or higher in the PCL-R scale were followed up for 20–30 years. Two control groups were used as follows: 178 offenders scoring less than 25 on the PCL-R, and sample of general population drawn from the Finnish National Statistics database. Results reveal that psychopaths die younger than the general population, and the causes of death are more violent than in the nonpsychopath control group. There was a significant positive correlation between PCL-R score and mortality, and the mortality among psychopaths was about fivefold when compared with general population.Peer reviewe

An fMRI study of affective perspective taking in individuals with psychopathy: imagining another in pain does not evoke empathy

While it is well established that individuals with psychopathy have a marked deficit in affective arousal, emotional empathy, and caring for the well-being of others, the extent to which perspective taking can elicit an emotional response has not yet been studied despite its potential application in rehabilitation. In healthy individuals, affective perspective taking has proven to be an effective means to elicit empathy and concern for others. To examine neural responses in individuals who vary in psychopathy during affective perspective taking, 121 incarcerated males, classified as high (n = 37; Hare psychopathy checklist-revised, PCL-R ≥ 30), intermediate (n = 44; PCL-R between 21 and 29), and low (n = 40; PCL-R ≤ 20) psychopaths, were scanned while viewing stimuli depicting bodily injuries and adopting an imagine-self and an imagine-other perspective. During the imagine-self perspective, participants with high psychopathy showed a typical response within the network involved in empathy for pain, including the anterior insula (aINS), anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC), supplementary motor area (SMA), inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), somatosensory cortex, and right amygdala. Conversely, during the imagine-other perspective, psychopaths exhibited an atypical pattern of brain activation and effective connectivity seeded in the anterior insula and amygdala with the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). The response in the amygdala and insula was inversely correlated with PCL-R Factor 1 (interpersonal/affective) during the imagine-other perspective. In high psychopaths, scores on PCL-R Factor 1 predicted the neural response in ventral striatum when imagining others in pain. These patterns of brain activation and effective connectivity associated with differential perspective-taking provide a better understanding of empathy dysfunction in psychopathy, and have the potential to inform intervention programs for this complex clinical problem

Nepotistic patterns of violent psychopathy: evidence for adaptation?

Psychopaths routinely disregard social norms by engaging in selfish, antisocial, often violent behavior. Commonly characterized as mentally disordered, recent evidence suggests that psychopaths are executing a well-functioning, if unscrupulous strategy that historically increased reproductive success at the expense of others. Natural selection ought to have favored strategies that spared close kin from harm, however, because actions affecting the fitness of genetic relatives contribute to an individual’s inclusive fitness. Conversely, there is evidence that mental disorders can disrupt psychological mechanisms designed to protect relatives. Thus, mental disorder and adaptation accounts of psychopathy generate opposing hypotheses: psychopathy should be associated with an increase in the victimization of kin in the former account but not in the latter. Contrary to the mental disorder hypothesis, we show here in a sample of 289 violent offenders that variation in psychopathy predicts a decrease in the genetic relatedness of victims to offenders; that is, psychopathy predicts an increased likelihood of harming non-relatives. Because nepotistic inhibition in violence may be caused by dispersal or kin discrimination, we examined the effects of psychopathy on (1) the dispersal of offenders and their kin and (2) sexual assault frequency (as a window on kin discrimination). Although psychopathy was negatively associated with coresidence with kin and positively associated with the commission of sexual assault, it remained negatively associated with the genetic relatedness of victims to offenders after removing cases of offenders who had coresided with kin and cases of sexual assault from the analyses. These results stand in contrast to models positing psychopathy as a pathology, and provide support for the hypothesis that psychopathy reflects an evolutionary strategy largely favoring the exploitation of non-relatives

The role of psychopathic traits among intimate partner-violent men: A systematic review

Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness [MINECO-17-PSI2016-77484-P]; Foundation for the Promotion of Applied Scientific Research and Technology in Asturias [BP13-134, BP14-153]; Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport [FPU 13/04310