Abstract
The mortality of female psychopaths has scarcely been investigated. To estimate the association between psychopathy and mortality, data from subjects having been in forensic psychiatric assessments at Niuvanniemi Hospital during 1984–1993 were linked to the data from the National Death Registry. Sixteen psychopathic females scoring 25 points or higher in the PCL-R scale (psychopaths) were followed up for a median (IQR) 21 (17–25) years and 41 offenders scoring <25 on the PCL-R (non-psychopathic offenders) for 22 (17–25) years. In both psychopath and non-psychopath offender groups, the mortality was significantly higher (p < 0.01) than in the general population, being over 12-fold among psychopathic and over 6-fold among the non-psychopathic offenders.
Highlights
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) predominantly affects males
It has been established in many previous studies that antisocial personality lifestyle predisposes to premature death in both male and female populations (15–18, [24, 25])
Our study consolidates this finding and adds new supplemental information on the mortality rates of antisocial and psychopathic females. To our knowledge, this is the first study focusing on mortality among female psychopaths
Summary
Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) predominantly affects males. The prevalence of ASPD in females is estimated to be ∼2% in the general population, whereas up to 6% men meet the diagnostic criteria [1]. Psychopathic individuals are characterized by antisocial behavior, lack of empathy, irresponsibility, superficial charm and the tendency to be manipulative in interpersonal relations. A recent study has shown that especially some items in the PCL-R are gender biased [8] and generally females tend to score lower on the PCL-R than males [9–11]. One of the noted differences between males and females is that while male psychopaths more frequently show antisocial and physical aggression, females tend to display a more relational and verbal form of aggression, as well as more manipulativeness and self-destructive behavior [11, 14]
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