The content validity of juvenile psychopathy: An empirical examination.

This study examined the content validity of a juvenile psychopathy measure, the Childhood Psychopathy Scale (CPS; D. R. Lynam, 1997), based on a downward translation of an adult instrument, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991). The CPS was compared with two other indices of juvenile psychopathy: (a) an index derived from expert ratings and (b) an empirical index based on correlations with adult psychopathy. The 100 items of the Common Language Q-Sort (CLQ; A. Caspi et al., 1992) provided a common metric for the comparison. Psychopathy and personality were assessed at age 13 years with the mother-reported CPS and the CLQ. Psychopathy was assessed at age 24 years with the interviewer-rated Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995). Data from over 250 participants of the middle sample of the Pittsburgh Youth Study were used to examine these relations. Item content analyses demonstrated considerable overlap among the three indices, indicating that the downward translation utilizes criteria similar to those of experts and the empirically-derived measure. In addition, these indices, even after removing overlapping items, demonstrated considerable convergence, also supporting the content validity of the downward translation. These results suggest that the downward translation method is adequate for understanding the juvenile psychopathy construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Use of the Personality Assessment Inventory to assess psychopathy in offender populations.

The authors investigated the validity of the Antisocial Features (ANT) scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; L. C. Morey, 1991) with respect to assessments of psychopathy in 2 offender samples. Study 1 included 46 forensic psychiatric inpatients who were administered the Screening Version of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, and R. D. Hare, 1995). In Study 2, 55 sex offenders were administered the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL—R; R. D. Hare, 1991). ANT scores correlated highly with the PCL:SV total score (r?=?.54) and moderately with the PCL—R total score (r?=?.40). ANT tapped primarily behavioral symptoms of psychopathy rather than interpersonal and affective symptoms. Also, ANT had low to moderate diagnostic efficiency regarding diagnoses of psychopathy, suggesting that it may be better used as a dimensional rather than categorical measure of this construct. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Examining the utility of the PCL:SV as a screening measure using competing factor models of psychopathy.

The correspondence between the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995) and the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003) was examined in forensic (N = 175) and correctional (N = 188) samples. Intermeasure correlations for Total scores (.95 forensic, .94 correctional) and the original 2-factor, D. J. Cooke and C. Michie's (2001) 3-factor, and R. D. Hare's (2003) 4-facet models (range = .87-.95) were high. Area under the curve values for the PCL:SV were .98 in both samples (cutoff = PCL-R Total score of 25). The PCL:SV performed well as a screen, maximizing false positive relative to false negative errors. Close correlations for prediction of violent recidivism in the correctional sample were obtained for the PCL-R (.42) and PCL:SV (.37). Results indicate the robust relation between the measures is maintained whether they are completed on the basis of file review only or file plus interview and whether the same or different raters score the measures. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A taxometric analysis of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV): Further evidence of dimensionality.

A taxometric analysis of the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995) was performed on a group of 2,250 male and female forensic/psychiatric patients and jail/prison inmates. The 4 PCL:SV facet scores (Interpersonal, Affective, Impulsive Lifestyle, Antisocial Behavior) served as indicators in this study, and the data were analyzed with 3 principal taxometric procedures-mean above minus below a cut, maximum eigenvalue, and latent mode factor analysis. The results show evidence of dimensional structure on the PCL:SV in the full sample as well as in all 8 subsamples (men, women, Whites, Blacks, hospital patients, jail/prison inmates, file review with an interview, file review without an interview). These findings corroborate recent taxometric research on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003) in which results have been largely dimensional in nature. It is concluded that scores on the PCL:SV differ quantitatively as points on a dimension (high vs. low psychopathy) rather than partitioning into qualitatively distinct categories of behavior (psychopath vs. nonpsychopath). (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating the Screening Version of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL:SV): An item response theory analysis.

The Screening Version of the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995) was developed to complement the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare. 1991), and for use outside forensic settings. The PCL:SV takes less time to administer and requires less collateral information than the PCL-R. An item response theory approach was adopted to determine similarities in the structural properties of the 2 instruments and whether the PCL:SV could be regarded as a short form of the PCL-R. Eight of the 12 items in the PCL:SV were strongly parallel to their equivalent PCL-R items. Of the 4 items PCL:SV items which differed from their equivalent PCL-R items, all 4 were found to be equal or superior to their equivalent PCL-R item in terms of discrimination. The analyses confirmed previous results that the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy have higher thresholds than do the impulsive and antisocial behavioral features; individuals have to be at a higher level of the psychopathic trait before the interpersonal and affective features become evident. The PCL:SV is an effective short form of the PCL-R. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A Multigroup Item Response Theory Analysis of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised.

Item response theory was used to investigate the functioning of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003) in several offender populations. With male criminal offenders (N=3,847) as a reference group, differential item functioning analyses were performed for 3 comparison groups: female criminal offenders (N=1,219), male forensic psychiatric patients (N=1,246), and male criminal offenders scored from file reviews (N=2,626). Results are discussed in the context of the 2-factor, 4-facet model for the PCL-R (R. D. Hare, 2003; J. Parker, G. Sitarenios, & R. D. Hare, 2003). Application of a multigroup graded response model to all 4 groups suggests scalar equivalence may hold at least approximately for each population, although the PCL-R provided slightly greater information about the latent trait of psychopathy for male criminal offenders scored from the standard procedure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validating the factor structure of the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale in a community sample.

Currently, there is no standard self-report measure of psychopathy in community-dwelling samples that parallels the most commonly used measure of psychopathy in forensic and clinical samples, the Psychopathy Checklist. A promising instrument is the Self-Report Psychopathy scale (SRP), which was derived from the original version the Psychopathy Checklist. The most recent version of the SRP (SRP-III; D. L. Paulhus, C. S. Neumann, & R. D. Hare, in press) has shown good convergent and discriminate validity and a factor structure similar to the current version of the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003). The analyses in the current study further investigated the viability of the SRP-III as a PCL-R-analogous measure of psychopathy in nonforensic and nonclinical samples by extending the validation process to a community sample. Using confirmatory factor analyses and logistic regressions, the results revealed that a four-factor oblique model for the SRP-III was most tenable, congruent with the PCL-R factor structure of psychopathy and previous research in which the SRP-III was administered to a student sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and recidivism from mid-adolescence to young adulthood: Cumulating legal problems and limiting life opportunities.

This study examined the ability of psychopathy as indexed by the following 4 scales: Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 1996/2003), Antisocial Process Screening Device (P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, 2001), Hare Self-Report Psychopathy Scale-II (R. D. Hare, 1991), and Personality Assessment Inventory-Antisocial Scale (L. C. Morey, 1991, 2007) to prospectively predict antisocial outcomes including general and violent recidivism across a 3- to 4-year time span. Results indicated that psychopathy was predictive of both general and violent recidivism from mid-adolescence to young adulthood even after accounting for 14 variables theoretically linked to offending. These findings add to the recent research showing stability in the psychopathy traits across time by also demonstrating that psychopathy in adolescents also has a real-world effect, including a cost to society with higher rates of offending in the community and a cost to youth with cumulating legal records that are likely to narrow their potential for prosocial growth in the community. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Incremental validity of the Psychopathy Checklist facet scores: Predicting release outcome in six samples.

The incremental validity of the 4 facet scores (Interpersonal, Affective, Lifestyle, Antisocial) of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991, 2003) and the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995) was evaluated in 6 forensic/correctional samples with average follow-ups ranging from 20 weeks to 10 years. Results indicated that whereas Facet 4 (Antisocial) achieved incremental validity relative to the first 3 facets (Interpersonal, Affective, and Lifestyle) in predicting recidivism in all 6 samples, a block of the first 3 facets achieved incremental validity relative to the 4th facet in only 1 sample. Thus, although there was consistent support for the incremental validity of Facet 4 above and beyond the first 3 facets, there was minimal support for the incremental validity of Facets 1, 2, and 3 above and beyond Facet 4. The implications of these findings for the psychopathy construct in general and the PCL-R/SV in particular are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does Psychopathy Predict Institutional Misconduct Among Adults? A Meta-Analytic Investigation.

Narrative reviews have raised several questions regarding the predictive validity of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 2003) and related scales in institutional settings. In this meta-analysis, the authors coded 273 effect sizes to investigate the association between the Hare scales and a hierarchy of increasingly specific forms of institutional misconduct. Effect sizes for Total, Factor 1, and Factor 2 scores were quite heterogeneous overall and weakest for physically violent misconduct (rw = .17, .14, and .15, respectively). Moderator analyses suggested that physical violence effect sizes were smaller in U.S. prison samples (rw = .11) than in non-U.S. prison samples (rw = .23). Findings are discussed in terms of the utility of the Hare measures for decision-making in institutional and other contexts. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of antisociality in the psychopathy construct: Comment on Skeem and Cooke (2010).

J. Skeem and D. J. Cooke (2010) asserted that Hare and Neumann consider criminality to be an essential component of the psychopathy construct. The assertion, presented in the guise of a debate on the nature of psychopathy, is neither accurate nor consistent with the clinical and empirical literature on psychopathy to which Hare and Neumann have contributed. Broadly defined antisociality, not criminality per se, is considered to be part of the psychopathy construct. Skeem and Cooke also expressed concerns that the popularity of the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (R. D. Hare, 2003) inhibits the development and use of other instruments, that it has become the construct it measures, that it deviates from its clinical roots, and that it conflates criminality with personality. These and related issues are addressed, and it is suggested that the arguments proffered by Skeem and Cooke are not convincing, nor do they provide clear directions for theory and research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Aberrant neural processing of moral violations in criminal psychopaths.

A defining characteristic of psychopathy is the willingness to intentionally commit moral transgressions against others without guilt or remorse. Despite this “moral insensitivity,” the behavioral and neural correlates of moral decision-making in psychopathy have not been well studied. To address this issue, the authors used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to record hemodynamic activity in 72 incarcerated male adults, stratified into psychopathic (n = 16) and nonpsychopathic (n = 16) groups based on scores from the Hare Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (R. D. Hare, 2003), while they made decisions regarding the severity of moral violations of pictures that did or did not depict moral situations. Consistent with hypotheses, an analysis of brain activity during the evaluation of pictures depicting moral violations in psychopaths versus nonpsychopaths showed atypical activity in several regions involved in moral decision-making. This included reduced moral/nonmoral picture distinctions in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and anterior temporal cortex in psychopaths relative to nonpsychopaths. In a separate analysis, the association between severity of moral violation ratings and brain activity across participants was compared in psychopaths versus nonpsychopaths. Results revealed a positive association between amygdala activity and severity ratings that was greater in nonpsychopaths than psychopaths, and a negative association between posterior temporal activity and severity ratings that was greater in psychopaths than nonpsychopaths. These results reveal potential neural underpinnings of moral insensitivity in psychopathy and are discussed with reference to neurobiological models of morality and psychopathy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Validity of Rorschach Inkblot scores for discriminating psychopaths from nonpsychopaths in forensic populations: A meta-analysis.

Gacono and Meloy (2009) have concluded that the Rorschach Inkblot Test is a sensitive instrument with which to discriminate psychopaths from nonpsychopaths. We examined the association of psychopathy with 37 Rorschach variables in a meta-analytic review of 173 validity coefficients derived from 22 studies comprising 780 forensic participants. All studies included the Hare Psychopathy Checklist or one of its versions (Hare, 1980, 1991, 2003) and Exner's (2003) Comprehensive System for the Rorschach. Mean validity coefficients of Rorschach variables in the meta-analysis ranged from ?.113 to .239, with a median validity of .070 and a mean validity of .062. Psychopathy displayed a significant and medium-sized association with the number of Aggressive Potential responses (weighted mean validity coefficient = .232) and small but significant associations with the Sum of Texture responses, Cooperative Movement = 0, the number of Personal responses, and the Egocentricity Index (weighted mean validity coefficients = .097 to .159). The remaining 32 Rorschach variables were not significantly related to psychopathy. The present findings contradict the view that the Rorschach is a clinically sensitive instrument for discriminating psychopaths from nonpsychopaths. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy, IQ, and Violence in European American and African American County Jail Inmates.

The accuracy of the prediction of criminal violence may be improved by combining psychopathy with other variables that have been found to predict violence. Research has suggested that assessing intelligence (i.e., IQ) as well as psychopathy improves the accuracy of violence prediction. In the present study, the authors tested this hypothesis by using a contemporary measure of psychopathy, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (R. D. Hare, 2003), in a sample of 326 European American and 348 African American male offenders. The postdictive power of psychopathy was evident for both ethnic groups and robust across most changes in the operationalization of violence and the analysis conducted, whereas the postdictive power of IQ was not. No Psychopathy x IQ interactions were identified. Implications of these results for violence prediction are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and Comorbidity in a Young Offender Sample: Taking A Closer Look At Psychopathy's Potential Importance Over Disruptive Behavior Disorders.

The authors examined the construct of psychopathy as applied to 130 adolescent offenders using 3 psychopathy measures and a broad range of DSM-TV Axis I diagnoses and psychosocial problems. Measures used in the study included the following: (a) Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL- PCLYV; A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 2003), (b) Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; YV; P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, 2002), (c) a modified version of the Self-Report Psychopathy-II scale (SRP-II; R. D. Hare, 1991b), and (d) the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale (APS; W. M. Reynolds, 1998). Results from this study offer incremental support for the construct validity of psychopathy in youth. Psychopathy evidenced better convergent and discriminant validity results than did the disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) such as oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Despite this finding, psychopathy scales nonetheless correlated with other forms of psychopathology at a higher rate than was expected, suggesting that comorbidity is high even when psychopathy is used as a classification scheme. Also, hierarchical multiple regression was used to determine whether psychopathy offered an improvement in the prediction of previous violent and nonviolent offenses. The results for the current study were mixed, with only the PCL-YV significantly predicting previous violent and nonviolent offenses beyond the DBDs. The findings indicate that psychopathy may offer incremental improvement over DBDs with regard to level of comorbidity and perhaps even prediction. However, simply extending the adult construct of psychopathy to youth without considering the array of psychopathology that may accompany adolescent psychopathy could be misleading. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Factor structure of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) in incarcerated adolescents.

Two studies are reported on the underlying dimensions of the psychopathy construct in adolescents as measured by the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL: YV; Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003). In Study 1, the PCL: YV item ratings for 505 male adolescents incarcerated in 5 different settings in North America were used to test the fit of 3 models that have been hypothesized to represent the structure of psychopathy in adults. A 4th model based on parceling PCL: YV items was also tested. In Study 2, these models were tested with a sample of 233 male adolescents incarcerated in 2 facilities in the United Kingdom. Model fit results indicated that the 18-item 4-factor model developed by Hare (2003) and a modified version of a 13-item 3-factor model developed by Cooke and Michie (2001) were associated with generally good fit. Because the 4-factor model is a less saturated model than the 3-factor model (better parameter to data point ratio), it survived a riskier test of disconfirmation. Implications for the nature of psychopathy in youth are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Do black and white youths differ in levels of psychopathic traits? A meta-analysis of the psychopathy checklist measures.

Putative ethnic group differences in various forms of psychopathology may have important theoretical, clinical, and policy implications. Recently, it has been argued that individuals of African descent are more likely to be psychopathic than those of European descent (R. Lynn, 2002). Preliminary evidence from the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (A. Forth, D. Kosson, & R. Hare, 2003) offers some support for this contention, with Black youths rated as moderately higher (Cohen's d = .61) than White youths in a large institutional sample (n = 945). To examine this issue more exhaustively, the authors meta-analyzed adolescent psychopathy data from several studies (combined N = 2,199) and obtained a much smaller mean difference (dw = .20, p = .03), although considerable heterogeneity was evident among the effect sizes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Response perseveration in psychopaths: Interpersonal/affective or social deviance traits?

In order to clarify the role of the two broad components of psychopathy (interpersonal/affective and social deviance; R. D. Hare, 2003) in explaining maladaptive response perseveration in psychopaths, as well as the role of reflection after punished responses in this deficit, the authors administered a card perseveration task to 47 Spanish male inmates assessed using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991). Hierarchical regressions showed that psychopaths' maladaptive perseveration (more cards played and less money earned) was uniquely predicted by the social deviance features of psychopathy (PCL-R Factor 2)--particularly by its impulsive and irresponsible lifestyle facet (PCL-R Facet 3)--and not by its interpersonal/affective features (PCL-R Factor 1). Moreover, perseveration was related to a lack of reflection both after punishment and after reward feedback. The authors' results, in conjunction with previous evidence indicating perseverative deficits in several impulse control disorders, suggest that response perseveration may not be specific to psychopathy but rather is associated more generally with the externalizing dimension of psychopathology. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Predicting future reconviction in offenders with intellectual disabilities: The predictive efficacy of VRAG, PCL-SV, and the HCR-20.

Accurate predictions of future reconviction, including those for violent crimes, have been shown to be greatly aided by the use of formal risk assessment instruments. However, it is unclear as to whether these instruments would also be predictive in a sample of offenders with intellectual disabilities. In this study, the authors have shown that the Violence Risk Appraisal Guide (V. L. Quinsey, G. T. Harris, M. E. Rice, & C. Cormier, 1998); the Psychopathy Checklist--Screening Version (S. D. Hart, D. N. Cox, & R. D. Hare, 1995); and the History, Clinical, Risk Management--20 (C. D. Webster, K. S. Douglas, D. Eaves, & S. D. Hart, 1997) were all significant predictors of violent and general reconviction in this sample, and in many cases, their efficacy was greater than in a control sample of mentally disordered offenders without an intellectual disability. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)