Affective Psychopathic Traits Research Articles

Prevalence of Dangerousness to the Public, Criminogenic Risk Factors and Psychopathic Traits in Child-to-Parent Offenders and Contrast with Non-Child-to-Parent Offenders.

Child-to-parent offenders (CPOs) are commonly specialist offenders and with high rates of recidivism. Thus, a field study was designed to estimate the prevalence of recidivism in the reference measures of recidivism i.e., dangerousness, risk factors and psychopathy, and compare CPOs with non-child-to-parent juvenile offenders (non-CPOs). A total of 136 juvenile offenders (76.5% boys), 76 CPOs and 60 non-CPOs, aged from 14 to 18 years old, were measured in terms of dangerousness, risk factors and psychopathic traits. For CPOs, the results show a more than common prevalence (>0.50), 75.0%, 95% CI [0.653, 0.847]) of dangerousness (caseness); a significant prevalence (>0.05) of diagnostic psychopathy (25.0%, 95% CI [0.150, 0.350]); and a common prevalence (=0.50), 55.3%, 95% CI [0.441, 0.665]) of classifications of high- and very high-risk factors. Comparatively, no significant differences were observed between CPOs and non-CPOs in terms of mental health problems (dangerousness); meanwhile CPOs exhibited significantly more interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits and significantly higher risks in family circumstances/parenting, and personality and behavior risk factors. The implications for prevention and intervention programs with CPOs are discussed.

Automated patterns of head dynamics are associated with psychopathic traits in incarcerated women

Men with elevated psychopathic traits have been characterized by unique patterns of nonverbal communication, including more fixed and focused head positions during clinical interviews, compared to men scoring low on measures of psychopathy. However, it is unclear whether similar patterns of head dynamics help characterize women scoring high on psychopathic traits. Here, we utilized an automated detection algorithm to assess head position and dynamics during a videotaped clinical interview (i.e., the Psychopathy Checklist – Revised [PCL-R]) in a sample of n = 213 incarcerated women. PCL-R Total, Factor 1 (i.e., interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits), and Factor 2 (i.e., lifestyle/behavioral and antisocial/developmental psychopathic traits) scores were associated with a pattern of head dynamics indicative of a rigid head position. The current study extends analyses of nonverbal behavior studies in men to women and highlights how individuals with elevated psychopathic traits demonstrate unique nonverbal behaviors relative to individuals who score low on psychopathic traits. The implications and clinical value of these findings are discussed.

Adolescent affective psychopathic traits: the long-term outcomes of mother-infant attachment across 14years.

Affective psychopathic traits have been associated with increased violence and aggression. The scholarly interest in the pathways leading to affective psychopathic traits in adolescence has been growing. Infant attachment security may be one of the early life factors that contribute to the development of affective psychopathic traits. In this study, we test the infant attachment styles measured with the Strange Situation Procedure as a predictor of adolescent affective psychopathic traits measured in three dimensions: remorselessness, unemotionality, and callousness, among 1149 families in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Propensity scores for the four attachment styles were estimated with iterative tree-based regression models. After accounting for the potential confounding effects of demographic characteristics and child temperament with the inverse probability of treatment weighting, weighted generalized linear models revealed the association between insecure/avoidant attachment style measured one year after childbirth and higher levels of remorselessness, unemotionality, and callousness at 15years. These findings provide insights into the long-term outcomes for attachment relationships established in early life.

Bidirectional Effects between Psychopathic Traits and Conduct Problems in Early Childhood: Examining Parenting as Potential Mediator

The association between psychopathic traits and conduct problems has been extensively analyzed, with results showing a significant predictive effect of psychopathic traits on later conduct problems. However, some recent research has evidenced some reversed effects, with early-onset conduct problems also showing a significant effect on psychopathic traits. The present study aimed to examine the longitudinal effects (i.e., autoregressive, direct, and bidirectional) between the three psychopathy dimensions (i.e., interpersonal, affective, and behavioral), and conduct problems in two data collections spanning one year (T1-T2). The potential mediation effect from inconsistent parenting and parental warmth was also analyzed. Data were collected, trough parents’ reports, in a sample of 1.833 children (48.8% girls; Mage = 4.24; SD = 0.92), participating in the ELISA study (Longitudinal Study for a Healthy Childhood). A cross-lagged path analysis with mediation effects was performed in Mplus. Results showed autoregressive, direct and bidirectional effects between psychopathic traits and conduct problems. Hence, whilst T1 conduct problems predicted all psychopathy dimensions in T2, only callous-unemotional and impulsive/need of stimulation traits measured in T1 predicted conduct problems in T2. Finally, some marginal mediation effects from inconsistent parenting and parental warmth were also observed, particularly in the relationship between interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits, and later CP through parental warmth. Current findings provide relevant implications for developmental models of psychopathic traits, as well as for predictive models and preventive strategies on early-onset conduct problems

Using the Psychopathy Checklist to examine cinematic portrayals of psychopaths

Abstract The current study examined whether 24 cinematic characters described as psychopathic met Hare's (2003) criteria for psychopathy that is commonly used by mental health professionals in legal proceedings. The results indicated that most characters were depicted as having a high level of interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits but that only 21% of the characters met criteria to be classified as psychopaths. Information about characters' childhoods and adolescences were rarely provided, suggesting that films do a poor job of portraying behaviors prior to adulthood that are utilized when diagnosing psychopathy. Although all of the characters were shown engaging in criminal behavior, only half received criminal sanctions for their behavior. Implications of media's portrayal of psychopathy are discussed, with an emphasis on how media may shape laypeople's understandings of psychopathy and influence jurors' decisions when a defendant is described as psychopathic during legal proceedings.

Which features of psychopathy and impulsivity matter most for prison violence? New evidence among female prisoners

Prison violence is a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. While a great deal of research has been conducted in male samples, very few studies are dedicated to understanding violence committed by female offenders. Two constructs that have emerged as important predictors of violence are psychopathy and impulsivity. These constructs may be an important line of inquiry due to the close association between psychopathy, impulsivity, and violence. In a sample of 166 female offenders, we used the 3-facet model of psychopathy and 3-factor model of trait impulsivity with the goal to statistically explain two types of prison violence: official reports of violent misconducts over a 12-month period, and self-report of deliberately instigating a violent altercation. We conducted three separate regression models to test the independent contribution of psychopathy and impulsivity, as well as accounting for the overlap between psychopathy and impulsivity. When impulsivity and psychopathy were not competing within the same model, affective and behavioral psychopathic traits, and nonplanning impulsiveness predicted violent misconducts. However, when accounting for impulsivity and psychopathy within the same model, only affective psychopathic traits remained significant. When predicting if an offender deliberately started a violent altercation, separate statistical models showed affective and interpersonal psychopathic traits, and nonplanning impulsiveness were significant. When competing for variance within the same statistical model, only affective and interpersonal psychopathic traits remained as significant predictors. This suggests an overlap between psychopathic traits and nonplanning impulsivity when understanding violent misconducts in female offenders, while affective psychopathic explains female prison violence, regardless of impulsivity.

Violence and aggression in young women: The importance of psychopathy and neurobiological function

Psychopathy is one of the most researched risk factors for violence. Yet, research in women is sparse. The present study aimed to test if the link between the four-facet structure of psychopathy and interpersonal violence and aggression was moderated by neurobiological function (indexed by resting respiratory sinus arrhythmia; RSA). Results showed the lifestyle and affective facets were associated with reactive aggression and these associations were moderated by low resting RSA. The interpersonal, affective, and antisocial facets were associated with proactive aggression but no moderation effect was found. The affective and antisocial facets of psychopathy were associated with histories of interpersonal violence, however, only the affective facet was moderated by low RSA. This is the first study in young women to demonstrate the link between affective psychopathic traits and interpersonal violence and reactive aggression is via aberrant prefrontal cortex functioning.

Emotional Intelligence in Incarcerated Female Offenders With Psychopathic Traits.

Emotional impairment is a core feature of psychopathy, and the disorder has been linked to an inability to recognize and regulate emotion, leading to deficiencies in empathy and difficulties in social functioning. This study investigated associations among psychopathic traits and ability-based emotional intelligence (EI) in female offenders and integrated data with previously published male offender data (Ermer, Kahn, Salovey, & Kiehl, 2012) to examine gender differences in relationships. Results showed that female offenders were impaired in the understanding and management of emotion relative to the general population, and that female offenders scored higher than male offenders in EI. Affective psychopathic traits (e.g., callousness) yielded a small relationship with difficulties in managing emotion in female offenders, and few gender differences in relationships between psychopathy and EI were found. Findings contribute to literature on emotional functioning in females with psychopathic traits and further understanding of gender differences in emotional abilities among offenders.

Psychopathic Traits and Sexual Coercion Against Relationship Partners in Men and Women.

The present study examined the relationships between psychopathic traits, gender, and sexual coercion perpetration in the specific context of intimate partner relationships. Community-dwelling adult men and women with recent criminal or substance-use histories (N = 300) completed self-report measures of psychopathic personality traits (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, and antisocial facets), sexual coercion perpetrated within their most recent relationship, and other relevant behaviors including physical intimate partner violence perpetration and sexual coercion victimization. Results of regression analyses showed that the relationship between psychopathic trait facets and sexual coercion was moderated by gender, with effects varying based on level of coercion severity. Specifically, women who showed high levels of interpersonal psychopathic traits (superficial charm, social dominance) were more likely to engage in any sexual coercion and minor severity sexual coercion than women with low levels of interpersonal traits. For severe coercion, women who showed low levels of affective psychopathic traits (coldness, lack of empathy) or high levels of antisocial psychopathic traits (aggressiveness, criminality) were more likely to be sexually coercive than other women. Relationships between the four psychopathic trait facets and sexual coercion were more modest and nonsignificant for men at any level of coercion severity. Results are discussed in the context of sociocultural factors that may influence the role of psychopathic traits on sexual coercion as a function of gender and relationship contexts, including traditional sexual scripts, the cultural role of women as sexual gatekeepers, and beliefs about token resistance.

Psychopathic traits are associated with reduced fixations to the eye region of fearful faces.

Impairments in processing fearful faces have been documented in both children and adults with psychopathic traits, suggesting a potential mechanism by which psychopathic individuals develop callous and manipulative interpersonal and affective traits. Recently, research has demonstrated that psychopathic traits are associated with reduced fixations to the eye regions of faces in samples of children and community-dwelling adults, however this relationship has not yet been established in an offender sample with high levels of psychopathy. In the current study, we employed eye-tracking with paradigms involving the identification and passive viewing of facial expressions of emotion, respectively, in a sample of adult male criminal offenders (n = 108) to elucidate the relationship between visual processing of fearful facial expressions and interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits. We found that the interpersonal-affective traits of psychopathy were significantly related to fewer fixations to the eyes of fear faces during the emotion recognition task. This association was driven particularly by the interpersonal psychopathic traits (e.g., egocentricity, deceitfulness), whereas fear recognition accuracy was inversely related to the affective psychopathic traits (e.g., callousness, lack of empathy). These findings highlight potential mechanisms for the subset of the interpersonal-affective traits exhibited by psychopathic individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record

Can Psychopathic Traits be Adaptive?

One of the most prominent models of psychopathy operationalizes this construct as consisting of four factors: interpersonal, affective, lifestyle and antisocial traits. These traits show different relationship patterns with other constructs, and these relations may differ in men and women. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the relations between psychopathic traits and indicators of emotional distress (depression, anxiety and stress), differ between men and women. Data was collected on 650 students (60% women) at the University of Zagreb. The results of Canonical Correlation Analysis indicated that affective psychopathic traits have adaptive potential and represent a protective factor for experiencing emotional distress, while Lifestyle and Antisocial behavior represent risk factors for emotional distress. Moreover, sex had a moderating role in the relationship between Interpersonal and Lifestyle traits and distress, indicating that psychopathic traits seem to be more adaptive in males, compared to females.

Dissociable relations between amygdala subregional networks and psychopathy trait dimensions in conduct-disordered juvenile offenders.

Psychopathy is a serious psychiatric phenomenon characterized by a pathological constellation of affective (e.g., callous, unemotional), interpersonal (e.g., manipulative, egocentric), and behavioral (e.g., impulsive, irresponsible) personality traits. Though amygdala subregional defects are suggested in psychopathy, the functionality and connectivity of different amygdala subnuclei is typically disregarded in neurocircuit‐level analyses of psychopathic personality. Hence, little is known of how amygdala subregional networks may contribute to psychopathy and its underlying trait assemblies in severely antisocial people. We addressed this important issue by uniquely examining the intrinsic functional connectivity of basolateral (BLA) and centromedial (CMA) amygdala networks in relation to affective, interpersonal, and behavioral traits of psychopathy, in conduct‐disordered juveniles with a history of serious delinquency (N = 50, mean age = 16.83 ± 1.32). As predicted, amygdalar connectivity profiles exhibited dissociable relations with different traits of psychopathy. Interpersonal psychopathic traits not only related to increased connectivity of BLA and CMA with a corticostriatal network formation accommodating reward processing, but also predicted stronger CMA connectivity with a network of cortical midline structures supporting sociocognitive processes. In contrast, affective psychopathic traits related to diminished CMA connectivity with a frontolimbic network serving salience processing and affective responding. Finally, behavioral psychopathic traits related to heightened BLA connectivity with a frontoparietal cluster implicated in regulatory executive functioning. We suggest that these trait‐specific shifts in amygdalar connectivity could be particularly relevant to the psychopathic phenotype, as they may fuel a self‐centered, emotionally cold, and behaviorally disinhibited profile. Hum Brain Mapp 37:4017–4033, 2016. © 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The posteromedial region of the default mode network shows attenuated task-induced deactivation in psychopathic prisoners.

Psychopathy is a personality disorder with symptoms that include lack of empathy or remorse, antisocial behavior, and excessive self-focus. Previous neuroimaging studies have linked psychopathy to dysfunction in the default mode network (DMN), a brain network that deactivates during externally focused tasks and is more engaged during self-referential processing. Specifically, the DMN has been found to remain relatively active in individuals with psychopathic tendencies during externally focused tasks, suggesting a failure to properly deactivate. However, the exact extent and nature of task-induced DMN dysfunction is poorly understood, including (a) the degree to which specific DMN subregions are affected in criminal psychopaths, and (b) how activity in these subregions relates to affective/interpersonal and antisocial/lifestyle traits of psychopathy. We performed a group independent component analysis to assess DMN activation during a Go/NoGo task in a group of 22 high-psychopathy and 22 low-psychopathy prisoners. The identified group-level DMN was parcellated into 6 subregions, and group differences in task-induced activity were examined. In general, DMN subregions failed to deactivate beneath baseline in the high-psychopathy group. A group comparison with the low-psychopathy group localized this attenuated task-induced deactivation to the posteromedial cortical (mPC) region of the DMN. Moreover, multiple regression analyses revealed that activity in the mPC was associated with affective/interpersonal traits of psychopathy. These findings suggest that attenuated deactivation of the mPC subregion of the DMN is intrinsic to psychopathy, and is a pattern that may be more associated with affective psychopathic traits, including lack of concern for others.

The association between affective psychopathic traits, time incarcerated, and cortisol response to psychosocial stress

Previous research has demonstrated that psychopathic personality traits are significantly predictive of blunted cortisol reactivity to a performance-based stressor task (Trier Social Stress Test; TSST) in college students. However, the relationship between cortisol reactivity and psychopathy has not been explored in high risk samples such as incarcerated populations. Further, the role of imprisonment in relation to cortisol stress reactivity has not been previously explored, but could have practical and conceptual consequences in regard to rehabilitation and biological sensitivity to context, respectively. The current study tested the hypotheses that both psychopathic personality traits and amount of time incarcerated are related to cortisol blunting in response to stress among incarcerated young adults. A sample of 49 young adult male offenders was recruited to complete the TSST. Salivary hormone samples were taken just prior to and 20min post-stressor, and participants were interviewed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version. Variables quantifying the amount of time at the present facility prior to the date of testing and number of commitments in juvenile facilities were also collected. Correlational analyses indicated that only number of incarcerations was related to blunted cortisol. Hierarchical Linear Modeling revealed that time incarcerated and number of commitments were related to a blunted cortisol response among responders and declining cortisol reactivity among nonresponders, respectively. Controlling for time incarcerated, psychopathic traits were significantly related to cortisol decline in response to the stressor among nonresponders, but were not related to blunted cortisol among responders. Results of this project highlight the potential biological effects of prolonged and repeated incarcerations, and extend our understanding about the relationship between psychopathic traits and cortisol reactivity in an incarcerated sample.

Differential Susceptibility to Parental Sensitivity Based on Early-Life Temperament in the Prediction of Adolescent Affective Psychopathic Personality Traits

A body of research has examined the potential causes of psychopathy and psychopathic personality traits. What is surprisingly missing from these studies is an effort to estimate person–environment interactions that might explain variation in psychopathic personality traits. The current study addressed this lacuna, examining whether early-life temperament conditioned the effect of parental sensitivity on adolescent affective psychopathic personality traits. Drawing on data from the National Institute of Chlid Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, the results revealed some evidence of temperament–parenting interactions, which were more in line with a differential-susceptibility than a diathesis-stress model of environmental action. Findings indicated that male infants with an easy temperament were the most affected by maternal and paternal sensitivity when it came to predicting a measure of affective psychopathic traits and the subcomponent of callousness. In addition, early-life temperament also interacted with paternal sensitivity in a for-better-and-for-worse fashion for the subcomponent of unemotionality.

Psychopathy and the ability to read the "language of the eyes": divergence in the psychopathy construct.

The capacity to interpret others people's behavior and mental states is a vital part of human social communication. This ability, also called mentalizing or Theory of Mind (ToM), may also serve as a protective factor against aggression and antisocial behavior. This study investigates the relationship between two measures of psychopathy (clinical assessment and self-report) and the ability to identify mental states from photographs of the eye region. The participants in the study were 92 male inmates at Bergen prison, Norway. The results showed some discrepancy in connection to assessment methodology. For the self-report (SRP-III), we found an overall negative association between mental state discrimination and psychopathy, while for the clinical instrument (PCL-R) the results were more mixed. For Factor 1 psychopathic traits (interpersonal and affective), we found positive associations with discrimination of neutral mental states, but not with the positive or negative mental states. Factor 2 traits (antisocial lifestyle) were found to be negatively associated with discrimination of mental states. The results from this study demonstrate a heterogeneity in the psychopathic construct where psychopathic traits related to an antisocial and impulsive lifestyle are associated with lower ability to recognize others' mental states, while interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits are associated with a somewhat enhanced ability to recognize others' emotional states.

Evading Justice

The “successful psychopath” is thought to evade scientific study because most forensic psychopathy research is limited to incarcerated—putatively unsuccessful—samples. By redefining criminal success as the proportion of past undetected crimes, the present study tested the hypothesis that psychopathic traits are associated with criminal success within an incarcerated sample ( N = 307). Psychopathy was assessed using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist–Revised. Criminal history was assessed retrospectively for 24 violent and nonviolent crimes via self-report using a confidential semistructured interview. Controlling for social desirability score, greatest criminal success was associated with moderate to high psychopathy scores, particularly for violent crimes. At the trait level, antisocial lifestyle and behavioral psychopathic traits predicted increased criminal success, whereas affective psychopathic traits predicted decreased criminal success. These results suggest that criminal success can be meaningfully evaluated using an incarcerated sample and can inform models of psychopathy.

Were Wolfgang's chronic offenders psychopaths? On the convergent validity between psychopathy and career criminality

Both the criminal career and psychopathy literatures have empirically shown that approximately 5 percent of the criminal population accounts for the preponderance of the incidence of crime; however, these areas of inquiry are largely independent. The current study sought to integrate these literatures using a state population of incarcerated delinquents (n = 723). Descriptive, regression, and ROC-AUC analyses produced significant evidence of the effects of personality and affective psychopathic traits on career criminality net the effects of demographic and mental health controls. Psychopathic traits nearly doubled the total explanatory power of the regression model for career criminality and correctly predicted career criminal membership with accuracies ranging from 70 to 88 percent. Implications of these findings and suggestions for increased integration of criminal career and psychopathy research are proffered.