The construct of psychopathy holds promise as a discriminating variable in the classification and explanation of childhood antisocial behavior. The new generation of psychopathy measures, designed to measure this construct in adolescent populations, must meet acceptable standards of reliability and validity prior to the clinical application of the construct with adolescent offenders. The purpose of this study is to examine the construct and predictive validity of adolescent psychopathy as measured by the PCL:YV, PSD, SALE, and SRP-II. Data from two samples of detained adolescent offenders (short-term and long-term detention) are utilized to investigate construct validity via MTMM. In addition, external validity indices including institutional violations (fighting, seclusions, and treatment refusals) and community supervision (probation contacts, drug testing, and re-arrests) are operationalized and measured in order to examine the predictive validity of adolescent psychopathy. Results of construct validity offer modest support for the two-factor model of psychopathy. For external validity, Factor 2 accounted for greater variance in the prediction of institutional infractions and subsequent placements in a secure facility; however, its overall predictive validity was low. The results suggest that the current measures assess psychopathic traits and behaviors which may be stable in adults but are likely to be normative and transient in many adolescents.

The present study was designed to assess both the construct of psychopathy in a female jail sample as well as the quality of the measures that have been employed to assess this personality style. Utilizing the multitrait-multimethod matrix proposed by Campbell and Fiske (1959), the construct of psychopathy was measured via three instruments: (a) the Antisocial Scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory, (b) the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised, and (c) the Antisocial Scale of the Personality Disorder Examination. In addition, the predictive validity of each of these measures of psychopathy was evaluated to determine their ability to predict institutional violence and non-compliance. The results revealed significant convergence and divergence across the three instruments supporting the construct of psychopathy in a female jail sample. In addition, the measures of psychopathy demonstrated moderate predictive validity.

Há um consenso na literatura de que indivíduos com transtorno de personalidade anti-social (psicopatia) apresentam deficiência na emissão de respostas emocionais como a ansiedade. Investigou-se o padrão de respostas fisiológicas (freqüência cardíaca e saturação de oxigênio), fatores do temperamento e caráter e impulsividade, ansiedade traço e estado em três grupos de 35 sujeitos: homicidas psicopatas, homicidas não psicopatas e grupo controle, constituído de indivíduos sem histórico criminal, psicopatia ou outro quadro psiquiátrico. Aplicou-se a Escala de Avaliação da Psicopatia (PCL-R) e a Entrevista Estruturada para Distúrbios da Personalidade (SIDP-R), para classificação dos três grupos quanto à psicopatia; o Inventário de Ansiedade Traço-Estado (IDATE); o Inventário de Temperamento e Caráter (ITC), Escala de Impulsividade de Barratt (BIS-11). Medidas fisiológicas, freqüência cardíaca e saturação de oxigênio foram obtidas durante a apresentação de figuras de conteúdos emocionais neutros, agradáveis e desagradáveis do International Affective Picture System. Um ruído desagradável de 85 db foi apresentado como estímulo sonoro aversivo intermitente durante a exibição das imagens. Os resultados demonstraram que os psicopatas não experimentam ansiedade (traço ou estado) comparados aos homicidas não psicopatas e ao grupo controle. Nos fatores do temperamento e caráter os psicopatas apresentam características específicas como Esquiva ao Dano, Dependência de Gratificação, Autodirecionamento e Cooperatividade, que os difere dos demais grupos. Já os homicidas não psicopatas apresentam algumas características significativamente diferentes do grupo controle, ocupando uma posição intermediária. A freqüência cardíaca e a saturação de oxigênio nos psicopatas não sofreram alteração em nenhum dos momentos de avaliação, independente do estímulo visual ou sonoro. Nos homicidas não psicopatas houve uma variação significativa na freqüência cardíaca para as figuras agradáveis e na saturação de oxigênio para as figuras desagradáveis de menor intensidade que as observadas no grupo controle. No grupo controle a freqüência cardíaca aumentou frente às figuras agradáveis e desagradáveis e a saturação de oxigênio aumentou frente as figuras desagradáveis. O maior tempo de reação dos parâmetros fisiológicos ocorreu no grupo dos psicopatas. Concluiu-se que as características de personalidade avaliadas pelo ITC, o traço de ansiedade e as variáveis fisiológicas - freqüência cardíaca, a saturação de oxigênio e o tempo de reação desses parâmetros frente a figuras com diferentes conteúdos emocionais - foram capazes de caracterizar as reações de homicidas psicopatas e distingui-los de homicidas não psicopatas e não homicidas / It has a consensus in the literature of that individuals with antisocial personality disorders (psyhopathy) present deficiency in the emission of emotional answers as the anxiety. One investigated the standard of physiological responses (cardiac frequency and saturation of oxygen), factors of the temperament and character and impulsiveneness, anxiety trait and state in citizens condemned for homicide. A total of 105 men (evaluated individually, age between 18 and 61 years), divided in 3 groups of 35 citizens: (group 1 psychopathic homicides, 2 nonpsychopathic homicides and 3, group has controlled, constituted of individuals without criminal description, psychopathy or another psychiatric disorder). It was applied Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) and the Interview Structuralized for Disorders of Personality (SIDP-R), for classification of the three groups how much the psychopathy; the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI; the Inventory of Temperament and Character (ITC), Barratt Impulsiveneness Scale (BIS-11). For the physiologicals measures a pulse oximeter and the presentation of figures of neutral, pleasant and unpleasant contents emotional of the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), during 6 seconds. A unpleasant noise of 85 db was presented as aversive sonorous stimulaton. The results had demonstrated that the psychopaths do not try anxiety (been trace or) compared with the nonpsychopathic homicides and to the group she has controlled. In the factors of the temperament and character the psychopaths present specific characteristics as reduction of fear response concern, impulsiveneness, greater affective insensibility, lack of planning, egocentrism pathological and raised sensitivity to the tedium that differs them from the too much groups. Already the not psychopathic homicides present some significantly different characteristics of the group have controlled, however they occupy an intermediate position (above of the group it has controlled and below of the psychopaths). The Cardiac frequency and the saturation of oxygen in the psychopaths had not suffered alteration in none from the moments of evaluation, independent of the visual or sonorous stimulation. In the not psychopathic homicides it had a significant variation in the cardiac frequency for the pleasant figures and in the saturation of oxygen for the unpleasant figures. The group has controlled if it characterized for being different of the too much groups, how much the cardiac frequency in all the different moments of evaluation and of the psychopathic homicides how much the saturation of oxygen for the unpleasant figures. The time of reaction of the cardiac frequency at the three moments of evaluation was measured still. Again, the psychopaths had presented the biggest time of reaction in relation to the too much groups. In a general way the results suggest that the psychopaths do not present anxiety, with not psychopathic homicides and not criminal citizens comparative. As much the group has controlled how much the not psychopathic homicides front to the interpreted situations as emotionally unpleasant they present a standard of physiological alteration of the psychopaths. It still concluded that the psychopaths present characteristics of the personality in moving to the temperament and the character that if present with factors capable to distinguish psychopaths from nonpsychopathic homicidals

Introdução: A literatura aponta um envolvimento cada vez maior de jovens com a delinquência e a criminalidade. Nos últimos anos, as pesquisas com população forense têm buscado estudar a etiologia do comportamento antissocial. Neste contexto a avaliação neuropsicológica tem sido cada vez mais utilizada como recurso para a investigação da correlação entre conduta infracional e déficits cognitivos. Este estudo investigou o desempenho cognitivo de jovens infratores reincidentes e não reincidentes em tarefas relacionadas às funções executivas. Método: 38 jovens infratores com idade média de 18 anos (±0,23) foram divididos em dois grupos: Grupo 1: Infratores Primários (n=17) e Grupo 2: Infratores Reincidentes (n=21). Para a avaliação clínica utilizou-se os seguintes instrumentos: Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI); Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R) e os testes neuropsicológicos: Semelhanças; Fluência Verbal, Stroop Color Test, Cubos, Vocabulário, Dígitos, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail Making Test (TMT) e índice de quociente de inteligência estimado (QI). Resultados: Os grupos foram pareados quanto à idade e escolaridade. O grupo de reincidentes (Grupo 2) mostrou maior pontuação na escala PCL-R (p=0,05) corroborando a tese de que traços de psicopatia são maiores entre infratores reincidentes. Nas provas neuropsicológicas de fluência verbal, TMT, Stroop, WCST, semelhanças e vocabulário, os grupos não se diferenciaram estatisticamente. Já na avaliação da execução de tarefas que exigem planejamento viso-espacial e QI estimado, o grupo 2 apresentou desempenho superior (p <0,01). Por outro lado, o grupo dos primários (grupo 1) apresentou maior eficiência (p=0,04) em tarefas relacionadas à amplitude atencional auditiva. Conclusões: O estudo permitiu identificar que as variáveis neuropsicológicas não são por si só, consistentes para discriminar aspectos cognitivos entre jovens infratores primários e reincidentes / Background: According to the literature, juvenile delinquency is a growing problem in many countries, which has increased researches with forensic population seeking for the etiology of antisocial behavior. In this context, neuropsychological evaluation is usually used as an important tool to investigate the correlation between conduct behavior and cognitive deficits. The present research compared executive functions between recidivist juvenile offenders and non-recidivist ones. Methods: 38 young offenders with 18 years old of average (±0,23) were divided in two groups: Group 1: Primary Offenders (n=17) and Group 2: Recidivist Offenders (n = 21), both evaluated through the following tools: Mini-International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI), Psychopathy Checklist Revised(PCL-R) and the neuropsychological tests: similarities, verbal fluency, Stroop Color Test, block design, vocabulary, digit span, Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST), Trail Making Test (TMT) and intelligence coefficient estimated (IQ). Results: The groups were controlled regarding age and scholarship. The recidivist group (group 2) showed higher scores at the PCL-R (p = 0,05) corroborating the theory that psychopathic traits are higher in these offenders. The groups reveal no statistical difference in the following neuropsychological test: verbal fluency, TMT, Stroop, WCST, similarities and vocabulary. However, group 2 presented better ability in activities requiring perceptual organization (p< 0,01), and also had higher estimated IQ (p< 0,02). In the other hand, group 1 performed better in tasks related to auditory sequencing and short-term memory (p=0,04). Conclusion: The results indicate that neuropsychological variables alone are not sufficient to discriminate between recidivist and norecidivist young offenders

Psychopathic personality is associated with a myriad of social and behavioral problems including violence, criminal activity, and overall failure to conform to social standards. In this study, psychopathic and antisocial personality traits are measured in a sample of college students via self-report surveys using questions derived from Hare's Psychopathic Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; 1991). Reliability and factor analyses were used to validate the inventory and create factor-based indices that were used to predict antisocial behavioral outcomes including violence, seeking revenge on persecutors, and suicidal ideation, in addition to other analogous and deviant behaviors. Findings showed a relationship between personality and behavior indicating that characteristics of one's personality may aid in the prediction and prevention of deviant behaviors. Implications for public policy, including the identification of traits that may be related to the propensity for such behaviors, are reviewed in the context of school shootings such as the incident at Columbine High School.

Psychopathy is not a diagnostic category, however theories of psychopathy have been discussed throughout psychological history. While the construct of psychopathy is associated with important psychological outcomes, there are inconsistencies in the literature with regard to correlates, etiology and treatment. These inconsistencies suggest that there may be several subtypes of psychopathy. This paper discusses the heterogeneity of psychopathy and considers the existence of psychopathic traits in nonclinical populations. Measures of etiology (Behavioral Activation System and Behavioral Inhibition System; Gray, 1985), psychopathy (Levenson's psychopathy measure; Levenson, Keihl, & Fitzpatrick, 1995) and anxiety (State Trait Anxiety Inventory; Speilberger, Gorsuch & Lushene, 1970) were used in Model based cluster analysis to investigate the existence of subtypes analogous to primary and secondary psychopathy in college students. Four clusters emerged with cluster profiles differing in theoretically coherent ways. Two of the clusters were representative of subclinical primary and secondary psychopathy and the other two represented non-psychopathic groups. Research (Buss, 1961, Dodge, 1991) regarding aggression discriminates between two types of aggression: instrumental and hostile. The current study considered whether the subjects in clusters created by psychopathy data differ in terms of the types of aggression used. As expected, the Psychopathic Traits groups used more aggression than the Non-psychopathic Traits groups, and the Primary Psychopathic Traits group used more instrumental aggression than the Secondary Psychopathic Traits group. Overall, these results support the existence of subclinical subtypes of psychopathy that resemble, in meaningful ways, hypothetical clinical variants. The results also suggest that subtyping may have clinical and forensic utility in risk assessment.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) for use with a female population. Seventy-five women who were either incarcerated or on probation were assessed using interview and file information. In addition, all subjects completed a battery of self-report inventories that were theoretically relevant to the PCL-R. The results strongly supported the appropriateness of the PCL-R for use with female offenders. The psychometric properties were excellent indicating a homogeneous and unidimensional scale. The factor analysis confirmed a two factor structure representing two distinct aspects of psychopathy; the personological and behavioural dimensions. The pattern of correlations obtained from the self—report inventories was highly similar to that obtained with male samples, further suggesting that the same construct is being measured in both sexes. The implications of these findings in terms of the construct of psychopathy and explanations of women’s criminality are discussed as well as future research and practical implications.

The Bender-Gestalt test is one of the most widely used psychological tests in clinical practice. However, very few empirical studies have investigated its projective use with adults. The purpose of the present study was to replicate a study conducted by Sellbom et al. (2001), which examined distortions of the Bender-Gestalt hypothesized to measure antisocial, impulsive, and depressive characteristics. It was found that the findings in Sellbom et al. (2001) were partially replicated, indicating that certain distortions, especially in conjunction, were significantly related to antisocial characteristics. The author suggests that the Bender-Gestalt could potentially be used as a screening measure for antisocial characteristics, but not to measure impulsive and depressive characteristics. / Department of Psychological Science

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska inst.itutet, 2005. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.