Reliability Generalization of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure.

The extent to which psychopathy can be reliably assessed via self-report has been debated. One step in informing this debate is examining the internal consistency of self-report psychopathy measures, such as the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010). Reliability generalization (RG) studies apply a meta-analytic approach to examine the internal consistency of an instrument in a more robust manner by aggregating internal consistency statistics reported across the published literature. This study conducted an RG analysis to yield the average Cronbach's alpha among published studies (k = 219) that administered the TriPM. Meta-analytic alphas were high for TriPM Total (α = .88) Boldness (α = .81), Meanness (α = .87), and Disinhibition (α = .85). Moderator analyses indicated internal consistency differed minimally as a function of study characteristics, like gender, age, or the nature of the sample (i.e., forensic or community). Subsequent RG analyses were performed for McDonald's omega (k = 40), which yielded comparable internal consistency estimates. The results of this study provide strong evidence that the TriPM measures coherent, internally consistent constructs and thus could be a viable, cost-effective mechanism for measuring psychopathy across a broad range of samples.

Meanness and affective processing: A meta-analysis of EEG findings on emotional face processing in individuals with psychopathic traits.

BACKGROUND: The triarchic model (Patrick et al., 2009) conceptualizes psychopathy as a multidimensional construct encompassing three biobehavioral dimensions: meanness, boldness, and disinhibition. Meanness entails low empathy, shallow affect, and lack of remorse, and is associated with poor facial emotion recognition; however, the mechanistic processes contributing to these deficits are unclear. Emotional face processing can be examined on a neurophysiological level using event-related potentials (ERPs) such as N170, P200, and LPP. No quantitative review to date has examined the extent to which amplitude of these ERP components may be modulated by psychopathic traits. METHOD: The current study performed random-effects model meta-analyses of nine studies (N = 1131) which examined affective face processing ERPs in individuals with psychopathic traits to provide an overall effect size for the association between meanness, boldness, and disinhibition and N170, P200, and LPP amplitudes across studies. Analyses were also conducted examining potential moderators and publication bias. RESULTS: N170 amplitudes were significantly smaller (r =.18) among individuals high in meanness when processing fearful faces. Significant effects were not found for N170 amplitude when processing angry or happy faces, nor for LPP and P200 amplitudes across stimulus types. Additionally, significant effects were not found for the association between N170 amplitude and other dimensions of psychopathy. Meta-regression analyses indicated the manipulation of facial stimuli was significant in explaining some between-study heterogeneity of the meanness N170-fear model. No evidence of publication bias was found. CONCLUSIONS: Diminished amplitude of the N170 when viewing fear faces appears to be a neurophysiological marker of psychopathic meanness. Deficits in early encoding of faces may account for empathy deficits characteristic of psychopathy.

Assessing general versus specific liability for externalizing problems in adolescence: Concurrent and prospective prediction of symptoms of conduct disorder, ADHD, and substance use.

This study explored the generality versus specificity of two trait-liability factors for externalizing problems-disinhibition and callousness-in the concurrent and prospective prediction of symptoms of conduct disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and substance use (i.e., alcohol use disorder and history of illicit substance use). Disinhibition involves an impulsive, unrestrained cognitive-behavioral style; callousness entails a dispositional lack of social-emotional sensitivity. Participants were European adolescents from the multisite IMAGEN project who completed questionnaires and clinical interviews at ages 14 (N = 1,504, Mage = 14.41, 51.13% female) and 16 (N = 1,407, Mage = 16.46, 51.88% female). Disinhibition was related concurrently and prospectively to greater symptoms of conduct disorder, ADHD, and alcohol use disorder; higher scores on a general externalizing factor; and greater likelihood of having tried an illicit substance. Callousness was selectively related to greater conduct disorder symptoms. These findings indicate disinhibition confers broad liability for externalizing spectrum disorders, perhaps due to its affiliated deficits in executive function. In contrast, callousness appears to represent more specific liability for antagonistic (aggressive/exploitative) forms of externalizing, as exemplified by antisocial behavior. Results support the utility of developmental-ontogenetic and hierarchical-dimensional models of psychopathology and have important implications for early assessment of risk for externalizing problems. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Latent variable model of triarchic psychopathy constructs in an incarcerated offender sample: Factor reliability and validity.

The triarchic model of psychopathy posits that three distinct trait dispositions-disinhibition, meanness, and boldness-contribute to the interpersonal, affective, and impulsive-unrestrained features of this condition and is represented to varying degrees in all conceptualizations and measures of psychopathy. Using data for incarcerated males (n = 273) and females (n = 83) from 10 different prisons in Italy, we specified a latent variable model of the triarchic trait constructs in which scale measures of disinhibition, meanness, and boldness composed of items from the following inventories served as indicators: Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised, Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 Restructured Form, and NEO Five Factor Inventory. A correlated three-factor solution evidenced adequate model fit, with individual triarchic trait scales loading strongly onto their target factors. The model exhibited comparable fit and factor loadings when specified using data for males only, and its factors showed expected relations with pertinent criterion variables, including measures of normative personality and clinical dysfunction along with staff ratings of prison behavior and release prognosis. Extending prior research with nonclinical participants from the U.S., present study results demonstrate the viability of a latent variable model of the triarchic traits in an incarcerated offender sample from a separate culture (Italy). The significance of this work lies in the potential of the triarchic traits to serve as conceptual-empirical points of reference for integrating findings across studies of psychopathy employing diverse samples and assessment measures. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Les progrès dans la réalisation de la classification quantitative de la psychopathologie.

Shortcomings of approaches to classifying psychopathology based on expert consensus have given rise to contemporary efforts to classify psychopathology quantitatively. In this paper, we review progress in achieving a quantitative and empirical classification of psychopathology. A substantial empirical literature indicates that psychopathology is generally more dimensional than categorical. When the discreteness versus continuity of psychopathology is treated as a research question, as opposed to being decided as a matter of tradition, the evidence clearly supports the hypothesis of continuity. In addition, a related body of literature shows how psychopathology dimensions can be arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from very broad "spectrum level" dimensions, to specific and narrow clusters of symptoms. In this way, a quantitative approach solves the "problem of comorbidity" by explicitly modeling patterns of co-occurrence among signs and symptoms within a detailed and variegated hierarchy of dimensional concepts with direct clinical utility. Indeed, extensive evidence pertaining to the dimensional and hierarchical structure of psychopathology has led to the formation of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Consortium. This is a group of 70 investigators working together to study empirical classification of psychopathology. In this paper, we describe the aims and current foci of the HiTOP Consortium. These aims pertain to continued research on the empirical organization of psychopathology; the connection between personality and psychopathology; the utility of empirically based psychopathology constructs in both research and the clinic; and the development of novel and comprehensive models and corresponding assessment instruments for psychopathology constructs derived from an empirical approach.

Piloting a brief intervention plus mobile boosters for drug use among emerging adults receiving emergency department care.

PURPOSE: There are few efficacious prevention interventions for emerging adults (ages 18-25) drug use and concomitant risks (e.g., sexual risk behaviors). We developed and evaluated the feasibility and acceptability of an Emergency Department (ED)-initiated brief intervention (BI) combined with booster messaging as a clinician-extender primarily focusing on drug use, with a secondary focus on condomless sex. We examined descriptive outcomes of alcohol, drug use, and condomless sex. PROCEDURES: We recruited N = 63 emerging adults who used drugs (primarily cannabis) from an ED (72.4 % participation rate). Their mean age was 21.7 years (SD = 2.3); 67 % were female and 52.4 % were Black/African American. Participants randomized to the intervention (N = 31) received a BI and 28 days of tailored booster messaging (based on drug use motives) daily, and the control condition received a community resource brochure. A post-test occurred at 1-month with a follow-up at 2-months. RESULTS: The intervention was well-received (83.9 % allocated completed the BI) with 79 % overall liking the BI and 71 % finding it helpful to discuss substances. Mean ratings of booster messages were >4.0 (5-point scale); 77 % liked the daily messages and 91 % found them helpful. Descriptively, the intervention group evidenced absolute reductions over time on alcohol outcomes, cannabis use, and condomless sex. CONCLUSIONS: This BI with booster messages was feasible and acceptable in the target population of emerging adults who use drugs (i.e., mostly cannabis). This intervention model, initiated during a healthcare visit and accompanied by a clinician-extender, should be tested in a future fully-powered trial.

Operationalizing the triarchic model of psychopathy in adolescents using the MMPI-A-RF (Restructured Form).

The triarchic model is an increasingly influential multidimensional model of psychopathy that focuses on three distinct phenotypic domains of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. Although originally operationalized through the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), the triarchic model has also been operationalized through items of existing psychopathy and personality measures that provide sufficient content coverage of the triarchic dimensions. The current study aimed to provide a means for enhancing understanding of psychopathic features in adolescents through the development and validation of triarchic scales using items from the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent-Restructured Form (MMPI-A-RF). The MMPI-A-RF normative sample and a large sample of juveniles undergoing court-ordered evaluations were used for formal scale development and the juvenile-court sample was also used for validation analyses. The MMPI-A-RF triarchic scales demonstrated adequate internal consistency in both the normative and juvenile offender samples, and were largely related to criterion variables, including measures of personality, psychopathology, interpersonal functioning, and adolescent concerns as predicted based on the triarchic model. Canonical correlation analyses revealed unexpected and novel findings of (variable-centered) patterns of associations between our predictor triarchic scales and criterion variables that resemble "primary" and "secondary" psychopathy variants or subtypes. Overall, findings suggest that the triarchic model as indexed by the MMPI-A-RF scales can be useful for understanding how psychopathy may manifest in youth and for identifying youth at risk for severe and persistent antisocial behavior. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Latent variable modeling of item-based factor scales: Comment on Triarchic or septarchic?-Uncovering the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure's (TriPM) Structure, by Roy et al.

We critique Roy et al.'s (2020; this issue) approach to characterizing the item-level factor structure of the three scales of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM), in light of the manner in which the TriPM scales were developed, the purposes they were designed to serve, and the growing body of evidence supporting their construct validity. We focus on three major points: (1) The TriPM scales are item-based factor scales - i.e., item sets designed to index broad factors of larger multi-scale (parent) inventories; (2) item-level structural analysis can be useful for representing broad dimensions tapped by such scales, but it cannot be expected to provide an accurate picture of narrower subdimensions (facets) assessed by their parent inventories; and (3) it is critical to consider the nomological networks of the TriPM scales (and other triarchic scale measures) in appraising their effectiveness as operationalizations of the triarchic model constructs. We illustrate the first and second of these points by applying Roy et al.'s analytic approach to the trait scales of the NEO-FFI, which were developed to index broad personality dimensions of the multi-scale NEO-PI-R. We address the third point with reference to the growing body of literature supporting the construct validity of the TriPM scales and demonstrating their utility for advancing an integrative understanding of psychopathy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Modeling Relations Between Triarchic Biobehavioral Traits and DSM Internalizing Disorder Dimensions.

The biobehavioral traits of the triarchic model of psychopathy have well-known correlates with externalizing psychopathology. Although evidence also suggests associations with internalizing disorders, research has yet to formally model relationships between dimensions of internalizing psychopathology and triarchic traits. Employing a sample of 218 adults (50.2% female), the current study used confirmatory factor analysis to characterize how triarchic trait dimensions-delineated using different scale operationalizations-relate to internalizing when modeled as a single broad factor, and as distinct fear and distress subfactors. Findings demonstrated (a) robust opposing relations for triarchic boldness (+) and disinhibition (-), and an interactive association for the two, with general internalizing, along with a modest negative relationship for meanness; and (b) distinct associations for the three triarchic trait dimensions with fear and distress subfactors of internalizing. This work clarifies how facets of psychopathy relate to the internalizing psychopathology spectrum and provides a means for interfacing this spectrum with biological variables.

Therapist and computer-based brief interventions for drug use within a randomized controlled trial: effects on parallel trajectories of alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety symptoms.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Despite their high comorbidity, the effects of brief interventions (BI) to reduce cannabis use, alcohol use and anxiety symptoms have received little empirical attention. The aims of this study were to examine whether a therapist-delivered BI (TBI) or computer-guided BI (CBI) to address drug use, alcohol consumption (when relevant) and HIV risk behaviors, relative to enhanced usual care (EUC), was associated with reductions in parallel trajectories of alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety symptoms, and whether demographic characteristics moderated reductions over time. DESIGN: Latent growth curve modeling was used to examine joint trajectories of alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety symptoms assessed at 3, 6 and 12 months after baseline enrollment. SETTING: Hurley Medical Center Emergency Department (ED) in Flint, MI, USA. PARTICIPANTS: The sample was 780 drug-using adults (aged 18-60 years; 44% male; 52% black) randomly assigned to receive either a TBI, CBI or EUC through the HealthiER You study. INTERVENTIONS AND COMPARATOR: ED-delivered TBI and CBIs involved touchscreen-delivered and audio-assisted content. The TBI was administered by a Master's-level therapist, whereas the CBI was self-administered using a virtual health counselor. EUC included a review of health resources brochures in the ED. MEASUREMENTS: Assessments of alcohol use (10-item Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test), cannabis use (past 30-day frequency) and anxiety symptoms (Brief Symptom Inventory-18) occurred at baseline and 3-, 6- and 12-month follow-up. FINDINGS: TBI, relative to EUC, was associated with significant reductions in cannabis use [B = -0.49, standard error (SE) = 0.20, P < 0.05) and anxiety (B = -0.04, SE = 0.02, P < 0.05), but no main effect for alcohol use. Two of 18 moderation tests were significant: TBI significantly reduced alcohol use among males (B = -0.60, SE = 0.19, P < 0.01) and patients aged 18-25 years in the TBI condition showed significantly greater reductions in cannabis use relative to older patients (B = -0.78, SE = 0.31, P < 0.05). Results for CBI were non-significant. CONCLUSIONS: Emergency department-based therapist-delivered brief interventions to address drug use, alcohol consumption (when relevant) and HIV risk behaviors may also reduce alcohol use, cannabis use and anxiety over time, accounting for the overlap of these processes.

Improving characterization of psychopathy within the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5), alternative model for personality disorders: Creation and validation of Personality Inventory for DSM-5 Triarchic scales.

The latest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) bridges a significant gap in psychiatric nosology by providing trait-based characterizations of psychopathy along with antisocial personality disorder within the Section III alternative model for personality disorders (AMPD). However, the representation of psychopathy in the AMPD has met with some criticisms (Crego & Widiger, 2014; Few, Lynam, Maples, MacKillop, & Miller, 2015). The current study was undertaken to establish an improved means for characterizing psychopathy in DSM-5 Section III terms, by creating scale measures of triarchic psychopathy dimensions using items from the best-established assessment instrument for the AMPD, the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 (PID-5). Using data from a sample of community adults (N = 210), we employed a construct rating and psychometric refinement approach to develop item-based PID-5 Triarchic scales for measuring psychopathy dimensions of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition. The validity of the PID-5 Triarchic scales was then evaluated in relation to criteria including other scale measures of the triarchic constructs and psychopathy, self-reported antisocial behavior and substance use, empathy, internalizing and other clinical problems, and personality within the development sample and a separate independent sample of adults (N = 240) recruited to have elevated psychopathic traits. Results of this work provide a foundation for improved characterization of psychopathy in terms of the AMPD trait system and provide a mechanism for future research oriented toward clarifying the developmental interface between childhood conduct disorder and psychopathy, as well as identifying neurobiological correlates of dimensions of psychopathy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Comparing the Triarchic and Five-Factor Trait Models: Relations With Psychopathy and Other Clinical Criteria in an Incarcerated Offender Sample.

This study compared how normative personality dimensions of the Five-Factor Model (FFM) and neurobehavioral traits of the triarchic model relate to psychopathic tendencies and clinical outcomes in an incarcerated sample of 277 Italian male offenders. Associations between triarchic model traits, measured using the TriPM and the FFM dimensions, measured using the NEO-FFI, were consistent with prior studies. Scores on the TriPM, particularly the Disinhibition scale, were associated with substance abuse and self-harm behavior over and above the presence of psychopathy, and beyond the personality dimensions indexed by the NEO-FFI. By contrast, the Neuroticism and Extraversion scales showed incremental validity, over and above psychopathy and TriPM scores, in predicting depressive tendencies. Lastly, both NEO-FFI and TriPM scales contributed to prediction of staff ratings of behavior in prison and prognosis for release, above and beyond psychopathy. These findings highlight potential advantages of the FFM and triarchic trait models for predicting clinical outcomes.

Extending the Construct Network of Trait Disinhibition to the Neuroimaging Domain: Validation of a Bridging Scale for Use in the European IMAGEN Project.

Trait disinhibition, a clinical-liability construct, has well-established correlates in the diagnostic, self-rating, task-behavioral, and brain potential response domains. Recently, studies have begun to test for neuroimaging correlates of this liability factor, but more work of this type using larger data sets is needed to clarify its brain bases. The current study details the development and validation of a scale measure of trait disinhibition composed of questionnaire items available in the IMAGEN project, a large-scale longitudinal study of factors contributing to substance abuse that includes clinical interview, self-report personality, task-behavioral, neuroimaging, and genomic measures. Using a construct-rating and psychometric refinement approach, a scale was developed that evidenced: (a) positive relations with interview-assessed psychopathology in the IMAGEN sample, both concurrently and prospectively and (b) positive associations with scale measures of disinhibition and reported psychopathology, and a robust negative correlation with P3 brain response, in a separate adult sample ( Mage = 19.5). These findings demonstrate that a common scale measure can index this construct from adolescence through to early adulthood, and set the stage for systematic work directed at identifying neural and genetic biomarkers of this key liability construct using existing and future data from the IMAGEN project.

Modeling the Structure of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure: Conceptual, Empirical, and Analytic Considerations.

This study sought to characterize the factor structure of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) using data from a sample of 1,082 community-dwelling Italian adults. Exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) was used to compare the fit of a bifactor model for each TriPM scale, in which specific-content factors were specified along with a general factor, with the fit of a single, general-factor model. Robust weighted least square (WLSMV) ESEM supported a bifactor latent structure of the TriPM items for all individual scales. When we jointly factor analyzed the 58 TriPM items, a WLSMV ESEM three-factor structure showed adequate fit; the three ESEM factors were akin to TriPM Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition theoretical dimensions, respectively, and could be effectively replicated across gender subgroups. Our findings support the three-factor structure of TriPM items, at least in Italian community-dwelling adults, and provide further evidence for the construct validity of the TriPM.

Progress in achieving quantitative classification of psychopathology.

Shortcomings of approaches to classifying psychopathology based on expert consensus have given rise to contemporary efforts to classify psychopathology quantitatively. In this paper, we review progress in achieving a quantitative and empirical classification of psychopathology. A substantial empirical literature indicates that psychopathology is generally more dimensional than categorical. When the discreteness versus continuity of psychopathology is treated as a research question, as opposed to being decided as a matter of tradition, the evidence clearly supports the hypothesis of continuity. In addition, a related body of literature shows how psychopathology dimensions can be arranged in a hierarchy, ranging from very broad "spectrum level" dimensions, to specific and narrow clusters of symptoms. In this way, a quantitative approach solves the "problem of comorbidity" by explicitly modeling patterns of co-occurrence among signs and symptoms within a detailed and variegated hierarchy of dimensional concepts with direct clinical utility. Indeed, extensive evidence pertaining to the dimensional and hierarchical structure of psychopathology has led to the formation of the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) Consortium. This is a group of 70 investigators working together to study empirical classification of psychopathology. In this paper, we describe the aims and current foci of the HiTOP Consortium. These aims pertain to continued research on the empirical organization of psychopathology; the connection between personality and psychopathology; the utility of empirically based psychopathology constructs in both research and the clinic; and the development of novel and comprehensive models and corresponding assessment instruments for psychopathology constructs derived from an empirical approach.

Callousness and affective face processing in adults: Behavioral and brain-potential indicators.

The investigation of callous-unemotional (CU) traits has been central to contemporary research on child behavior problems, and served as the impetus for inclusion of a specifier for conduct disorder in the latest edition of the official psychiatric diagnostic system. Here, we report results from 2 studies that evaluated the construct validity of callousness as assessed in adults, by testing for affiliated deficits in behavioral and neural processing of fearful faces, as have been shown in youthful samples. We hypothesized that scores on an established measure of callousness would predict reduced recognition accuracy and diminished electocortical reactivity for fearful faces in adult participants. In Study 1, 66 undergraduate participants performed an emotion recognition task in which they viewed affective faces of different types and indicated the emotion expressed by each. In Study 2, electrocortical data were collected from 254 adult twins during viewing of fearful and neutral face stimuli, and scored for event-related response components. Analyses of Study 1 data revealed that higher callousness was associated with decreased recognition accuracy for fearful faces specifically. In Study 2, callousness was associated with reduced amplitude of both N170 and P200 responses to fearful faces. Current findings demonstrate for the first time that callousness in adults is associated with both behavioral and physiological deficits in the processing of fearful faces. These findings support the validity of the CU construct with adults and highlight the possibility of a multidomain measurement framework for continued study of this important clinical construct. (PsycINFO Database Record

Interfacing five-factor model and triarchic conceptualizations of psychopathy.

The lexically based five-factor model (FFM) of personality has been a highly influential research framework for characterizing clinical-psychological conditions, including psychopathy, in lexical-trait terms. An alternative trait-descriptive framework, the triarchic model was formulated to characterize psychopathy in neurobehavioral-trait terms, in order to facilitate linkages with variables in the domain of neurobiology. The current study used data from a mixed-gender sample (N = 769; M age = 19.3) to establish an interface between the FFM and triarchic frameworks by identifying subsets of items from a widely used five-factor personality inventory, the NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), that effectively index the dimensional constructs of the triarchic model (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition). A consensus rating and psychometric refinement approach was used to select NEO-PI-R items for assessing each triarchic dimension, and the resulting NEO-Tri item-sets ("scales") were evaluated in relation to criteria including other scale measures of the triarchic constructs, reported antisocial behavior and drug/alcohol use, and an FFM-generated omnibus psychopathy measure, the Psychopathy Resemblance Index. The NEO-Tri scales were also evaluated for effectiveness as indicators of latent triarchic dimensions within a confirmatory factor analysis anchored by previously validated triarchic scale measures. Results of this work have implications for clarifying how the triarchic model dimensions relate to normal-range personality traits and FFM-based conceptions of psychopathy, and provide a foundation for further examining neurobiological correlates of the triarchic model dimensions using existing multidomain data-sets that include the NEO-PI-R. (PsycINFO Database Record

Further Evidence for Reliability and Validity of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure in a Forensic Sample and a Community Sample.

Psychopathy is often described as a constellation of personality characteristics encompassing features such as impulsivity and antisociality, and a lack of empathy and guilt. Although the use of self-reports to assess psychopathy is still debated, there are distinct advantages to such measures and recent research suggests that they may not be as problematic as previously thought. This study further examined the reliability and validity of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) in a community sample (N = 496) and forensic psychiatric patient sample (N = 217). Results indicated excellent internal consistencies. Additionally, the TriPM total and subscale scores related as expected to different subscales of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory -Revised (PPI-R) and to the Reactive and Proactive Aggression Questionnaire, reflecting good construct validity. Most importantly, ROC curve analyses showed that the TriPM evidenced better discrimination between the community sample and forensic psychiatric patients than the PPI-R. The current study extends the existent evidence demonstrating that the TriPM can be used as an efficient self-report instrument.

Integrating Alternative Conceptions of Psychopathic Personality: A Latent Variable Model of Triarchic Psychopathy Constructs.

This study undertook confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) of data from 567 participants to quantify constructs specified by the triarchic model of psychopathy (Patrick, Fowles, & Krueger, 2009)-boldness, meanness, and disinhibition-as latent variables. Indicators for the CFAs consisted of subscales of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure along with triarchic scales derived from items of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory, Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory, and Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. A modified three-factor model provided good fit to the data and outperformed alternative two- and one-factor models. Multiple-group CFAs demonstrated gender differences (male > female) in factor means and covariances, but not in factor loadings or intercepts. These findings support the idea that the triarchic model dimensions are embedded in differing models and measures of psychopathy and comprise essential building blocks for this clinical condition. Implications for understanding the structure of psychopathy, gender differences in psychopathic traits, and applications of latent variable modeling in future research are discussed.

Methodological issues in the use of individual brain measures to index trait liabilities: The example of noise-probe P3.

Recent research initiatives have called for an increased use of biological concepts and measures in defining and studying mental health problems, but important measurement-related challenges confront efforts in this direction. This article highlights some of these challenges with reference to an intriguing measure of neural reactivity: the probe P3 response, a mid-latency brain potential evoked by an intense, unexpected acoustic-probe stimulus. Using data for a large adult sample (N=418), we report evidence that amplitude of probe P3 response to unwarned noise bursts occurring in a picture-viewing task exhibits robust, independent associations with two distinct trait constructs: weak inhibitory control (or disinhibition; DIS) and threat sensitivity (THT). Additionally, we report a selective association for THT with attentional suppression of probe P3 response during viewing of aversive pictures compared to neutral. These results point to separable elements of variance underlying the probe P3 response, including one element reflecting DIS-related variations in cognitive-elaborative processing, and others reflecting THT-related variations in aversive foreground engagement and abrupt defensive reorientation. Key measurement issues are considered in relation to these specific findings, and methodological and statistical approaches for addressing these issues are discussed in relation to advancement of a quantitatively sound, biologically informed science of psychopathology.