Social preferences and psychopathy in a sample of male prisoners-a pilot study.

Social decisions are influenced by a person's social preferences. High psychopathy is defined by antisocial behaviour, but the relationship between psychopathy and social preferences remains unclear. In this study, we used a battery of economic games to study social decision-making and social preferences in relation to psychopathy in a sample of 35 male prison inmates, who were arrested for sexual and severe violent offenses (mean age = 39 years). We found no evidence for a relationship between social preferences (measured with the Dictator and Ultimatum Games, Social Value Orientation, and one-shot 2 × 2 games) and psychopathy (measured by the overall Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised score and both factors). These results are surprising but also difficult to interpret due to the small sample size. Our results contribute to the ongoing debate about psychopathy and social decision-making by providing crucial data that can be combined with future datasets to reach large sample sizes that can provide a more nuanced understanding about the relationship between psychopathy and social preferences.

Assessing psychopathic traits with the MMPI-3: Findings from correctional, university, and community samples.

OBJECTIVE: The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) instruments have a long history with respect to the assessment of psychopathic personality traits. The most recent version, the MMPI-3, should be in a good position to continue this tradition, and the aim of the current research was to evaluate its scales for this purpose. We examined, on the basis of previous research, how well conceptually relevant MMPI-3 scales mapped onto dominant contemporary psychopathy models: the traditional three-factor model and triarchic psychopathy model. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that MMPI-3 markers of internalizing would be negatively correlated with boldness, whereas broad and specific markers of externalizing proclivities would be associated with disinhibition and antisociality. We also hypothesized that egocentricity and callousness would be associated with MMPI-3 scales measuring various features of externalizing, interpersonal aggression/antagonism, and grandiosity. METHOD: We used archival samples of male prison inmates (n = 452), community members with externalizing proclivities (n = 205), and university students (n = 645). These participants completed the Expanded Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. RESULTS: Zero-order correlation analyses indicated support for many of our hypotheses across samples, with notable exceptions. Regression and dominance analyses yielded information about the most potent MMPI-3 predictors of each psychopathy domain, with consistency across the three samples. Boldness was associated with low scores on Emotional/Internalizing Dysfunction, Low Positive Emotions, Shyness, and Negative Emotionality/Neuroticism and high scores on Self-Importance and Dominance. For meanness and disinhibition, we found substantial overlap with MMPI-3 scales (e.g., Behavioral/Externalizing Dysfunction, Antisocial Behavior). Meanness was indicated by high Aggression, Cynicism, Aggressiveness, and Disaffiliativeness; disinhibition/antisociality was primarily marked by high Antisocial Behavior, Hypomanic Activation, Impulsivity, and Disconstraint; and Anger Proneness, Aggression, and Cynicism were secondary indicators. CONCLUSIONS: These findings provide support for using the MMPI-3 in clinical assessments to corroborate other sources of information regarding psychopathy as well as generate hypotheses for further consideration. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Clarifying Relations Between Core Features of Psychopathy and Substance (Mis)use: A Replication and Extension in Two Large Independent Samples.

Two studies examined the consistency of associations between specific components of psychopathy and two indices of drug use: (a) abstinence and (b) severity (i.e., counts) of lifetime substance use disorder (SUD) symptoms. Participants were 418 male county jail inmates in Illinois (Study One) and 354 male state prison inmates in New Mexico (Study Two). Across samples, lifestyle and antisocial trait ratings were associated with a reduced likelihood of abstinence from most substances. Lifestyle traits were also uniquely associated with severity of substance dependence ratings. Consistent with prior research, interpersonal traits were uniquely related to cocaine indices in both samples. Furthermore, analyses revealed negative associations between the affective features of psychopathy and alcohol dependence in one sample (Study Two), and illicit substance use across samples. These findings demonstrate the robustness of the associations between the interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy and specific aspects of substance (mis)use.

Prison or treatment? Gender, racial, and ethnic inequities in mental health care utilization and criminal justice history among incarcerated persons with borderline and antisocial personality disorders.

OBJECTIVE: Borderline and antisocial personality disorders are characterized by pervasive psychosocial impairment, disproportionate criminal justice involvement, and high mental health care utilization. Although some evidence suggests that systemic bias may contribute to demographic inequities in criminal justice and mental health care among persons experiencing these mental health conditions, no research to date has explicitly examined such differences. HYPOTHESES: Women and White persons would be more likely to endorse internalizing symptoms and have a more extensive history of mental health service utilization, whereas men, persons from minoritized racial groups, and persons identifying as Hispanic/Latino would be more likely to endorse externalizing symptoms and have more extensive histories of involvement with the criminal justice system. METHOD: This study examined gender, racial, and ethnic differences in symptom presentation, criminal justice history, and mental health care utilization in a sample of 314 adults with comorbid borderline and antisocial personality disorders enrolled in prison-based substance use treatment programs in the United States. RESULTS: Results suggested that men with these personality disorders were more likely to have early extensive criminal justice involvement, whereas women and White people had more extensive mental health treatment histories. Women were also more likely to endorse a range of internalizing symptoms, and White and non-Hispanic participants were more likely to endorse a history of reckless behavior. Notably, however, many associations-particularly, racial differences in symptom presentation and mental health utilization history and gender differences in symptom presentation-did not persist after we controlled for preincarceration employment and educational attainment. CONCLUSION: Results highlight a range of gender, racial, and ethnic inequities in criminal justice involvement and mental health utilization among this high-risk high-need population. Findings attest to the likely impact of societal, structural, and systemic factors on trajectories of persons affected by this comorbidity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Morality, self-control, age, type of offence and sentence length as predictors of psychopathy amongst female incarcerated offenders in South Africa.

There has been an increase in female incarcerated offenders nationally and internationally. Despite this trend, literature and research on female offenders remain limited compared to their male counterparts. Evidence of the relationship between certain personality disorders and offending behaviour has led numerous countries to prioritise identifying and assessing personality disorders among the offender population. Psychopathic personality traits may contribute to women's risk factors for expressing antisocial behaviours, resulting in their potential future incarceration. Thus, a need exists to understand possible factors that may predict the expression of psychopathic traits in females, which may have notable utility among female offenders. This study aimed to investigate possible predictor variables of psychopathy amongst incarcerated female offenders in South Africa. A quantitative research approach, non-experimental research type, and correlational research design were employed. A convenience sampling technique was used. The sample consisted of 139 (N = 139) female offenders housed in two correctional centres in South Africa who voluntarily participated in this study. Correlation analyses and hierarchical regression analysis procedures were conducted to analyse the results. Results indicated (i) a certain combination of predictor variables that statistically and practically significantly explained both primary and secondary psychopathy and (ii) individual predictor variables (e.g., Impulsivity, Simple Tasks, Risk-Seeking, and Self-Centredness) that explained both primary and secondary psychopathy statistically and practically significantly. This study provides valuable information about the possible predictor variables of psychopathy amongst female offenders within the context of South Africa. However, further research must be conducted to validate these findings and advance our knowledge on this topic.

Alcohol Use and Moffitt's Maturity Gap Thesis for Adolescent Offending: An Evolutionary Perspective and Analysis.

While a wealth of research has focused on testing several arguments from Moffitt's developmental taxonomy of antisocial behavior-mainly the presence of life-course-persistent vs. adolescence-limited offending and predictors of each trajectory-much less attention has been devoted to examining how evolutionarily adaptive lifestyle factors common during adolescence may condition the relationship between the maturity gap and delinquent offending. One factor that may play a role during this period of development is alcohol use, as many adolescents begin to experiment with consuming alcohol in varying degrees in social settings to model adult-like behaviors. Yet presently much is unknown about the role of alcohol use on the association between the maturity gap and delinquency. The current study aims to address this void in the literature by analyzing data from a U.S. sample of adolescent males (N = 1,276) to assess whether alcohol use moderates the relationship between the maturity gap and delinquent behavior. Findings suggest that the maturity gap is associated with delinquent behavior and that the association becomes weaker at higher levels of alcohol use. The implications of these findings for Moffitt's maturity gap thesis and male offending from an evolutionary perspective are discussed.

Personality and motivation of physical activity in adolescent girls: effects of perceived parental support and social physical anxiety.

In the present study, we investigated the relationship between personality and motivation for physical activity while introducing perceived parental support and social physical anxiety in adolescent girls (N = 318, Mage: 16.19 ± 0.51 years). The present study was a retrospective correlational study that was conducted to analyze of a path model. Dark triad traits: Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy, student's motivation for physical activity, social physique anxiety, and participants' perceptions of parents' behaviors were measured. The findings indicated that psychopathy and Machiavellianism were directly and indirectly associated with motivation for physical activity, but Narcissism could only directly predict the motivation for physical activity. Also, need-thwarting (the most), need-supportive and social physical anxiety could predict motivation for physical activity. This model of the result suggests that among adolescent girls, dark triad personality could, directly and indirectly, predict motivation with need-supportive and need-thwarting and also social physical anxiety. It seems that the sense of importance and more attention to oneself in adolescent girls, which exists in the narcissistic personality, can directly lead to more motivation for physical activity. Also, the duplicitous ways of Machiavellian people in pursuing their motives were confirmed in this research.

Psychopathic callousness and perspective taking in pain processing: an ERP study.

Psychopathy is a multifaceted personality disorder characterized by distinct affective/interpersonal traits, including callousness-unemotionality/meanness, which are often considered the hallmarks of empathic deficits. It has been posited that the processing of others' pain could play an important role in empathy capabilities. This study aimed to investigate the influence of perspective taking on electrocortical responses during pain processing in relation to psychopathic callousness. The late positive potential (LPP) -a well-established electrophysiological indicator of sustained attention to motivationally significant stimuli- was measured while 100 female undergraduates viewed images depicting bodily injuries while adopting an imagine-self or an imagine-other perspective. Callousness factor scores -computed as regression-based component scores from EFA on three relevant self-report measures of this dimension- predicted reduced LPP amplitudes to pain pictures under the imagine-other (but not imagine-self) perspective, even after controlling for other LPP conditions. This result suggests that high-callous individuals exhibit diminished brain responsiveness to others' distress, potentially contributing to the empathic deficits observed in psychopathy. This finding highlights the usefulness of the LPP and perspective taking in studies on pain processing to refine our understanding of the low empathy characteristics of psychopathy in biobehavioral terms.

Correlates of the Dark Tetrad.

This study explored demographic, ideological, self-rating and personality traits correlates of the Dark Tetrad (DT4) which measures Narcissism (Special), Machiavellianism (Crafty), Psychopathy (Wild), and Sadism (Mean) traits. In total, 447 adults completed three tests: a bright-side, work-related, personality test (HPTI: High Performance Type Indicator), a dark-side test (Short Dark Tetrad) and a number of self-ratings. Correlations and regressions showed that all four dark traits were associated with low Adjustment (Neuroticism), but also with high Risk-Taking and Competitiveness (low Agreeableness). The various measures accounted for a third of the variance in explaining the Mean (Sadistic) score, and 40 % for Special (Narcissism). Trait Competitiveness was most closely associated with all four dark traits.

Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective.

BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment stands as a salient risk factor in the etiology of juvenile delinquency, with a profound impact on the behavioral trajectories of young offenders. However, there is limited research on latent profile analysis to explore distinctive patterns of childhood maltreatment in Chinese juvenile offenders. Consequently, there is a lack of understanding regarding the associations between maltreatment profiles and relevant variables in this context. The present study aimed to explore meaningful subgroups of childhood maltreatment in juvenile offenders, and we further examined the associations between subgroups and multiple outcomes especially psychopathy. METHODS: The data was obtained from a sample of Chinese juvenile offenders (N = 625, M age = 17.22, SD = 1.23). This study employed a latent profile analysis (LPA) based on factor scores of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form to identify the subgroups and examined the differences across subgroups using outcomes variables including psychopathy, callous-unemotional traits, aggression and anxiety. This study includes three self-report measures to evaluate psychopathy, with due regard for the nuanced considerations on the factor structure inherent in the conceptualization of psychopathy. RESULTS: Two subgroups were identified, including the non-maltreatment subgroup (80.2%) and the maltreatment subgroup (19.8%). Maltreatment subgroup was characterized by a greater level of all types of maltreatment with particularly higher of emotion neglect. Besides, we found that maltreatment subgroup showed a significantly higher level of psychopathy across multiple self-report measures, and greater callous-unemotional traits, lack of empathy, aggression and anxiety. We found two subgroups of child maltreatment in Chinese juvenile offenders. CONCLUSIONS: These findings may provide a further understanding of childhood maltreatment and the clinical intervention on psychopathy in the early period.

Meta-analysis of the implied distribution of callous-unemotional traits across sampling methods and informant.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been measured in a variety of sample-types (e.g., community or forensic) and from the perspective of different informants (e.g., self-report or parent-report) using the inventory of callous-unemotional traits total score (ICU-T). Although the positive association between CU traits and antisocial behavior is uncontroversial, the degree to which sample-types are different from each other has received little attention despite such knowledge being important for generalization and interpretation of research findings. To address this gap in the literature, we estimated the implied distribution of the ICU-T across sample-types, informants, and their interaction using meta-analytic models of sample means and variances. In unconditional models, we found that sample-type significantly moderated mean ICU-T scores but not variance, while informant significantly moderated the variance of ICU-T scores but not means. There was also a significant interaction between sample-type and informant. Mean parent-reported ICU-T scores were significantly lower than self-reported scores in community samples, but not significantly different in samples with elevated levels of antisocial behavior. Implications of our findings include improved research efficiency, the need for different ICU-T norms across informants, and greater understanding of informant biases.

Reciprocal Effects Between Negative Parenting and Children's Callous-Unemotional Traits From Mid to Late Childhood.

OBJECTIVE: The role of negative parenting in the development of callous-unemotional (CU) traits remains unclear. Both negative parenting and CU traits are influenced by genetic and environmental factors. The authors used genetically informed longitudinal cross-lagged models to examine the extent to which reciprocal effects between negative parenting and children's CU traits in mid-to-late childhood are genetic versus environmental in origin. METHODS: In 9,260 twin pairs from the Twins Early Development Study, the authors estimated cross-lagged effects between negative parenting (discipline and feelings) and children's CU traits in mid (ages 7-9) and late (ages 9-12) childhood. RESULTS: CU traits were strongly heritable and stable. Stability was explained largely by genetic factors. The influence of negative parenting on the development of CU traits was small and driven mostly by genetic and shared environmental factors. In mid childhood, the influence of children's CU traits on subsequent negative parenting (i.e., evoked by children's CU traits) was also small and mostly genetic in origin. In late childhood, CU traits showed no effects on negative parental discipline and small effects on negative parental feelings, which reflected mostly shared environmental factors. CONCLUSIONS: In mid-to-late childhood, genetic factors strongly influenced the development of CU traits, whereas environmental effects of negative parenting were small. Negative parenting was also relatively unaffected by CU traits. The small reciprocal effects originated mostly from genetic and shared environmental factors. Therefore, repeated intensive interventions addressing multiple risk factors rather than negative parenting alone may be best positioned to support families of children with CU traits across development.

Executive functioning in antisocial behavior: A multi-level systematic meta-analysis.

Neurobiological information - including executive functioning - is increasingly relevant for forensic clinical practice, as well as for the criminal justice system. Previous meta-analyses report that antisocial populations show impaired performance on executive functioning tasks, but these meta-analyses are outdated, have limitations in their methodological approach, and are therefore in need of an update. The current multi-level meta-analysis including 133 studies (2008-2023) confirms impaired performance in executive functioning (d=.42), but studies are heterogeneous. Several moderator analyses showed that neuropsychological test used, type of executive function component, and control group characteristics moderated the overall effect. Specifically, matching psychiatric problems in the non-antisocial control group eliminated any differences in executive functioning between groups. No moderation effects were found for assessment quality, hot or cold executive functions, and various population characteristics. These results could indicate that the assessment of executive functioning in antisocial populations may be less relevant for recidivism risk assessment than thought, although this should first be assessed in prospective longitudinal studies. Executive functioning could potentially be used to identify or screen for individuals with certain treatment needs or be used as a responsivity factor, especially in disorders which are often underdiagnosed in criminal justice settings.

Social appearance anxiety among the dark tetrad and self-concealment.

This study analyzed the effects of the Dark Tetrad (narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism) and self-concealment on social appearance anxiety. Empirical investigations on which personality traits influence social appearance anxiety are yet missing. In this study, a sample of N = 1186 Chinese students performed a questionnaire-based survey assessing different personality facets and social appearance anxiety tendencies. Measures included the Narcissistic Personality Inventory, the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, the Machiavellian Personality Scale, the Short Sadistic Impulse Scale, the Self-concealment Scale, and the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale. The results of the multiple regression analysis showed that psychopathy, Machiavellianism, sadism, and self-concealment positively predicted social appearance anxiety and narcissism negatively predicted social appearance anxiety. Machiavellianism, psychopathy, sadism, and self-concealment were positive predictors of social appearance anxiety, whereas narcissism was a negative predictor. These findings provide insight into the complex nature of the Dark Tetrad and their influence on social appearance anxiety.

Increased burden of rare protein-truncating variants in constrained, brain-specific and synaptic genes in extremely impulsively violent males with antisocial personality disorder.

The genetic correlates of extreme impulsive violence are poorly understood, and there have been few studies that have characterized a large group of affected individuals both clinically and genetically. We performed whole exome sequencing (WES) in 290 males with the life-course-persistent, extremely impulsively violent form of antisocial personality disorder (APD) and analyzed the spectrum of rare protein-truncating variants (rPTVs). Comparisons were made with 314 male controls and publicly available genotype data. Functional annotation tools were used for biological interpretation. Participants were significantly more likely to harbor rPTVs in genes that are intolerant to loss-of-function variants (odds ratio [OR] 2.06; p < 0.001), specifically expressed in brain (OR 2.80; p = 0.036) and enriched for those involved in neurotransmitter transport and synaptic processes. In 60 individuals (20%), we identified rPTVs that we classified as clinically relevant based on their clinical associations, biological function and gene expression patterns. Of these, 37 individuals harbored rPTVs in 23 genes that are associated with a monogenic neurological disorder, and 23 individuals harbored rPTVs in 20 genes reportedly intolerant to loss-of-function variants. The analysis presents evidence in support of a model where presence of either one or several private, functionally relevant mutations contribute significantly to individual risk of life-course-persistent APD and reveals multiple individuals who could be affected by clinically unrecognized neuropsychiatric Mendelian disease. Thus, Mendelian diseases and increased rPTV burden may represent important factors for the development of extremely impulsive violent life-course-persistent forms of APD irrespective of their clinical presentation.

The association between childhood trauma and emotion recognition is reduced or eliminated when controlling for alexithymia and psychopathy traits.

Emotion recognition shows large inter-individual variability, and is substantially affected by childhood trauma as well as modality, emotion portrayed, and intensity. While research suggests childhood trauma influences emotion recognition, it is unclear whether this effect is consistent when controlling for interrelated individual differences. Further, the universality of the effects has not been explored, most studies have not examined differing modalities or intensities. This study examined childhood trauma's association with accuracy, when controlling for alexithymia and psychopathy traits, and if this varied across modality, emotion portrayed, and intensity. An adult sample (N = 122) completed childhood trauma, alexithymia, and psychopathy questionnaires and three emotion tasks: faces, voices, audio-visual. When investigating childhood trauma alone, there was a significant association with poorer accuracy when exploring modality, emotion portrayed, and intensity. When controlling for alexithymia and psychopathy, childhood trauma remained significant when exploring emotion portrayed, however, it was no longer significant when exploring modality and intensity. In fact, alexithymia was significant when exploring intensity. The effect sizes overall were small. Our findings suggest the importance of controlling for interrelated individual differences. Future research should explore more sensitive measures of emotion recognition, such as intensity ratings and sensitivity to intensity, to see if these follow accuracy findings.

Missing Outcome Data in Recent Perinatal and Neonatal Clinical Trials.

Missing outcome data in clinical trials may jeopardize the validity of the trial results and inferences for clinical practice. Although sick and preterm newborns are treated as a captive patient population during their stay in the NICUs, their long-term outcomes are often ascertained after discharge. This greatly increases the risk of attrition. We surveyed recently published perinatal and neonatal randomized trials in 7 high-impact general medical and pediatric journals to review the handling of missing primary outcome data and any choice of imputation methods. Of 87 eligible trials in this survey, 77 (89%) had incomplete primary outcome data. The missing outcome data were not discussed at all in 9 reports (12%). Most study teams restricted their main analysis to participants with complete information for the primary outcome (61 trials; 79%). Only 38 of the 77 teams (49%) performed sensitivity analyses using a variety of imputation methods. We conclude that the handling of missing primary outcome data was frequently inadequate in recent randomized perinatal and neonatal trials. To improve future approaches to missing outcome data, we discuss the strengths and limitations of different imputation methods, the appropriate estimation of sample size, and how to deal with data withdrawal. However, the best strategy to reduce bias from missing outcome data in perinatal and neonatal trials remains prevention. Investigators should anticipate and preempt missing data through careful study design, and closely monitor all incoming primary outcome data for completeness during the conduct of the trial.

The Dark Tetrad: analysis of profiles and relationship with the Big Five personality factors.

The Dark Tetrad (DT) is composed of the traits of Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Psychopathy, and Sadism. Most studies analyzing the DT have employed a variable-centered approach, analyzing the traits separately. In the present study, we treat DT as a whole, adopting a person-centered approach. We analyzed different homogeneous subgroups of individuals characterized by specific DT profiles, aiming to examine their relationship with Big Five personality factors. A sample of 1149 participants (50.1% women, 18-79 years) completed The Short Dark Triad and the Assessment of Sadistic Personality instrument to assess DT, while the Mini-IPIP was used to assess the Big Five personality factors. Cluster analysis yielded five groups: Narcissism, Machiavellianism, Mean DT, Low DT, and High DT group. The main results showed that the High DT group was distinguished by higher levels of extraversion and lower levels of agreeableness and conscientiousness (compared with the Low DT group). Moreover, the Narcissism group was characterized by higher scores on emotional stability, openness to experience, and extraversion. Finally, distribution according to gender varied across DT groups (more men than women in the High DT group and the opposite in the Low DT group). Limitations and future lines of research are discussed.

Prefrontal cortex structural and developmental associations with callous-unemotional traits and aggression.

Youths with high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and aggression are at an increased risk for developing antisocial behaviours into adulthood. In this population, neurostructural grey matter abnormalities have been observed in the prefrontal cortex. However, the directionality of these associations is inconsistent, prompting some to suggest they may vary across development. Although similar neurodevelopmental patterns have been observed for other disorders featuring emotional and behavioural dysregulation, few studies have tested this hypothesis for CU traits, and particularly not for aggression subtypes. The current study sought to examine grey matter correlates of CU traits and aggression (including its subtypes), and then determine whether these associations varied by age. Fifty-four youths (10-19 years old) who were characterized for CU traits and aggression underwent MRI. Grey matter volume and surface area within the anterior cingulate cortex was positively associated with CU traits. The correlation between CU traits and medial orbitofrontal cortex (mOFC) volume varied significantly as a function of age, as did the correlation between reactive aggression and mOFC surface area. These associations became more positive with age. There were no significant findings for proactive/total aggression. Results are interpreted considering the potential for delayed cortical maturation in youths with high CU traits/aggression.