Psychopathy checklist: Screening version: A bifactor structure for forensic and community samples.

We evaluated competing measurement models for the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), one of the most widely used assessment instruments of psychopathy, which applies to clinical, forensic, and community samples. With four all-male community and forensic samples collected in Germany and the United States (nTotal = 853), we evaluated several measurement models of the PCL:SV, including correlated factor models, higher-order models, and bifactor models, on numerous psychometric criteria including model fit, factor saturation, and predictive utility. Across the samples, we found that a bifactor model had better fit to the data and explained comparable or more variance in measures of fluid intelligence, crystallized intelligence, and characteristics of antisocial personality disorder relative to the four correlated factors model. The best bifactor structure model differed between forensic and community samples. With both populations, in addition to a g factor which loaded on all items, a nested factor representing the lifestyle and antisocial facets was also modeled. With the forensic sample, an additional orthogonal nested factor representing the interpersonal facet was needed. We conclude that there is strong communality across the 12 PCL:SV items, which is best captured by a bifactor structure. However, the specific nesting structure differs due to whether or not the sample includes a forensic or community population. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Is pedophilic sexual preference continuous? A taxometric analysis based on direct and indirect measures.

The present study addressed the question of whether deviant sexual preferences for children can be considered a taxon, utilizing data from a multimethod assessment battery. The test battery comprised direct self-report as well as indirect latency-based measures (Implicit Association Tests, viewing time) of deviant sexual preferences for children. In a mixed sample of adult men (N = 304, including sex offenders against children, sex offenders against adults, and controls who were either nonsexual offenders or nonoffenders), 27% of the offenders convicted for child sexual abuse or child pornography charges were identified as a homogeneous and distinct latent class. Additional taxometric analyses corroborated the notion of a pedophilic subgroup. Individuals in this pedophilic group showed elevated scores on measures of deviant sexual preference for children over adults. The offense histories of the individuals from the pedophilic cluster indicated an increased likelihood of pedophilic preference as assessed by a file-based summary index. We interpret the results as evidence for pedophilic sexual preference as a distinct and taxonic clinical construct.