Associations of the MAOA uVNTR genotype and 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 haplotype with psychopathic traits.

Previous studies have linked polymorphisms of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA uVNTR) and serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) to individual differences in the expression of psychopathic traits, but findings remain inconsistent. One possible reason is that these studies have treated psychopathy as a unitary construct when there is accumulating evidence that there are variants or subtypes. We used a variable-centered and a person-centered approach by (a) examining putative genetic correlates of psychopathy across individuals and (b) comparing the frequencies of the MAOA uVNTR genotype and 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 haplotype between empirically derived subtypes of psychopathy, respectively. Notably, we included the often neglected rs25531 polymorphism, which is closely connected to the 5-HTTLPR. Based on data from male offenders and community volunteers, structural equation modeling indicated that the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 haplotype was specifically associated with interpersonal deficits beyond the overarching psychopathy construct. Latent profile analysis revealed four clusters that were labeled non-psychopaths, sociopaths, callous-conning, and psychopaths. The low-activity variant of the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 haplotype was significantly more frequent in the callous-conning compared to the non-psychopathic subtype. There were no effects for the MAOA uVNTR. The results illustrate that psychopathy should not be treated as a unitary construct but that there are variants with specific profiles of psychopathic traits, and that the 5-HTTLPR/rs25531 haplotype plays a role in the manifestation of interpersonal deficits from a variable-centered as well as from a person-centered view.

Main and interaction effects of childhood trauma and the MAOA uVNTR polymorphism on psychopathy.

Psychopathy is characterized by callous affect, interpersonal manipulation, a deviant lifestyle, and antisocial behavior. Previous research has linked psychopathic traits to childhood trauma, but also to the upstream variable number tandem repeat (uVNTR) polymorphism of the monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) gene. An interaction between childhood trauma and MAOA genotype has been associated with antisocial behavior, but so far little is known about interaction effects of childhood trauma and the MAOA uVNTR on psychopathy. In order to bridge this gap, we used data of 1531 male and 1265 female twins and their siblings from a Finnish community sample to estimate structural equation models. The psychopathy and childhood trauma constructs were conceptualized as bifactor models with one general and two orthogonal group factors. Data comprised self-reports on childhood trauma and psychopathic traits as well as MAOA uVNTR genotype. In both genders, childhood trauma was associated with the general factor that represents the overarching psychopathy construct, and with the group factor that captures social deviance, but not with the group factor capturing psychopathic core personality traits. Women with a low activity variant of the MAOA uVNTR reported slightly higher levels of psychopathy than those with a high activity allele, but only with respect to the general psychopathy factor. There was no evidence for an interaction effect between MAOA uVNTR genotype and childhood trauma on psychopathy in either gender. Our results suggest that psychopathy in general and social deviance in particular are associated with childhood trauma in men and women, and that psychopathic traits are subject to variation in the MAOA uVNTR genotype in women.

Emotional empathy and psychopathy in offenders: an experimental study.

Previous studies associated psychopathy in adults with deficits in empathy but these studies did not directly compare cognitive and emotional facets of empathy. The present study sought to establish whether psychopathy is associated with impairments in emotional empathy among adult offenders. Participants were 90 male offenders scoring low (n = 29), medium (n = 33) or high (n = 28) on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) and n = 28 male noncriminal controls. Empathy functioning was assessed through self-report and computerized decision tasks, differentiating between perspective-taking (cognitive empathy) and compassion (emotional empathy). Against expectations, level of psychopathy among the offenders was not associated with either emotional or cognitive empathy. Offenders however had lower scores for both cognitive and emotional components of empathy functioning than controls. Both facets of empathy showed small but significant positive correlations with education level and social desirability. The methods employed to assess differences in empathy functioning may not be sensitive enough to assess differences in forensic samples.