Construct validity of psychopathy in a female offender sample: a multitrait-multimethod evaluation.

Abstract

The authors examined the construct of psychopathy as applied to 103 female offenders, using the multitrait-multimethod matrix proposed by D. T. Campbell and D. W. Fiske (1959). Instruments used in the study included the following: (a) Antisocial Scale of the Personality Assessment Inventory (L. C. Morey, 1991); (b) Psychopathy Checklist--Revised (R. D. Hare, 1990); and (c) Antisocial scale of the Personality Disorder Examination (A. W. Loranger, 1988). Criterion-related validity was also evaluated to determine the relationship between psychopathy and staff ratings of aggressive and disruptive behavior within the institution. Results revealed significant convergence and divergence across the instruments supporting the construct of psychopathy in a female offender sample. The measures of psychopathy demonstrated moderate convergence with staff ratings of violence, verbal aggression, manipulativeness, lack of remorse, and noncompliance. It is interesting to note that an exploratory factor analysis of the PCL-R identified a substantially different factor structure for women than has been previously found for male psychopathy.