Differences in current psychological and physiological subclinical stress levels in forensic patients with psychopathic personality traits

Abstract

Stress and its associations with psychopathic traits have been widely studied. However, recent research suggests the distinction between psychological and physiological symptoms of subclinical stress experience. Possible differences regarding these two dimensions of stress and their relations to psychopathy factors have not been investigated yet. Hence, this is the first study on psychological and physiological subclinical stress levels of forensic patients with psychopathic personality traits. We expected to find distinct associations between stress dimensions and psychopathy factors. Therefore, we examined 164 forensic patients with a substance use disorder regarding their psychopathy scores and current stress levels, using the Psychopathy Personality Inventory (PPI) and the Subclinical Stress Questionnaire (SSQ). Our results indicate that only the experience of psychological stress and not physiological stress is predicted by psychopathy. More precisely, the psychopathy factor “Impulsive Antisociality” is a positive predictor of subclinical psychological stress symptoms, while the factor “Fearless Dominance” is a negative predictor. Thereby, gender has an influence as females are more likely to experience psychological and physiological stress. In conclusion, these results imply that forensic patients scoring high on the psychopathy factor “Impulsive Antisociality” experience high levels of psychological distress. This is in line with previous findings describing Impulsive Antisociality as a generally maladaptive trait manifesting in low adaptability and insufficient coping strategies.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.