Psicopatía y adicciones en mujeres: Estudio comparativo utilizando el Psychopathy Checklist Revised y el Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality / Psychopathy, addictions and female gender: Comparative study using the Psychopathy Checklist Revised and the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality

La investigación en psicopatía se ha centrado tradicionalmente en laevaluación de varones con el Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). Lainvestigación en mujeres utilizando otros instrumentos de evaluación esmuy escasa. El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar la psicopatía, utilizandovarios instrumentos, es una muestra que incluya mujeres y varones. 204internos (edad media (SD) = 40,93 (11,8)), 28 mujeres (13,7%), delCentro Penitenciario de Pereiro de Aguiar (Ourense) participaron eneste estudio. Se recogieron variables sociodemográficas, consumo desustancias,antecedentes delictivos y fueron evaluados con los siguientesinstrumentos: PCL-R, Comprehensive Assessment of PsychopathicPersonality (CAPP) y el International Personality Disorder Examination.En esta muestra representativa de la población penitenciaria se observóque en el PCL-R los varones obtenían puntuaciones significativamentemás elevadas en la faceta 4 que mide la conducta antisocial. Las mujeresobtuvieron puntuaciones significativamente más elevadas en el CAPPen el dominio Self, que mide la conducta narcisista. No se obtuvoningún síntoma o ítem que permitiese discriminar claramente a lasmujeres psicopáticas de los varones psicopáticos utilizando un modelode Máquinas de Vectores Soporte. El constructo de la psicopatía essimilar para las mujeres y los hombres en esta muestra. Las mujerespresentan puntuaciones más elevadas de narcisismo y los varones deantisocialidad. Para valorar mejor estas diferencias psicopatológicas esmejor combinar el PCL-R con otro instrumento como el CAPP. Ningúnsíntoma o ítem tiene una puntuación que pueda recomendarse comométodo que permita discriminar a las mujeres psicopáticas de losvarones psicopáticos. (AU)

Traditionally, psychopathy research has focused on assessing menwith the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R). Research on womenwith other assessment tools is scarce. The objective of this study is toevaluate psychopathy, using various tools, in a sample with both womenand men. The study involved 204 inmates (mean age (DS) = 40.93(11.8)), 28 women (13.7%), in the Pereiro de Aguiar penitentiary(Ourense). Sociodemographic, substance use, and criminal variableswere collected, and all were evaluated with the following tools: PCL-R,Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP),and the International Personality Disorder Examination. In thissample, when assessed with the PCL-R, males obtained significantlyhigher scores on facet 4, which measures antisocial behaviour.Women obtained significantly higher scores on the Self domain inthe CAPP, measuring narcissism. No symptom or item was able toclearly discriminate psychopathic women from psychopathic men ina Support Vector Machine model. The construct of psychopathy issimilar for women and men in this representative penitentiary sample.Women showed higher scores for narcissism and men for antisociality.It is better to combine the PCL-R with another tool such as the CAPPto assess these psychopathological differences. No symptom or itemhas a score that can be recommended as a method for discriminatingpsychopathic women from psychopathic men. (AU)

Comparison between the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised and the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality in a representative sample of Spanish prison inmates.

In the field of psychopathy, there is an ongoing debate about the core traits that define the disorder, and that therefore must be present to some extent in all psychopaths. The main controversy of this debate concerns criminal behaviour, as some researchers consider it a defining trait, while others disagree. Using a representative sample of 204 Spanish convicted inmates incarcerated at the Pereiro de Aguiar Penitentiary in Ourense, Spain, we tested two competing models, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), which includes criminal behaviour items, versus the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP), which does not. We used two different PCL-R models, one that includes criminal items and another that does not. PCL-R factors, facets, and testlets from both models and CAPP dimensions were correlated and compared. Two different PCL-R cut-off scores, 25 or more and 30 or more, were used for the analysis. Overall, a strong correlation was found between PCL-R and CAPP scores in the whole sample, but as scores increased and inmates became more psychopathic, the correlations weakened. All these data indicate that psychopathy, understood to mean having high scores on the PCL-R and CAPP, is a multidimensional entity, and inmates can develop the disorder and then receive the diagnosis through different dimensions. The CAPP domains showed better correlations when compared with the PCL-R factors from both models, showing that an instrument for the assessment of psychopathy without a criminal dimension is valuable for clinical assessment and research purposes.

Novel validity evidence of the Psychopathy Checklist- Revised (PCL-R) in a representative sample of Spanish inmates.

Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) validation studies have been conducted mainly in non representative samples of North American adult male serious offenders. Research in other samples is needed to test the generalizability of PCL-R construct validity. PCL-R psychometric properties and construct validity were evaluated in a representative sample of 204 Spanish sentenced inmates. These inmates had served at least 6 months of their sentence at Pereiro de Aguiar prison. This sample was heterogeneous with respect to type of official charges and was representative, as all offenders who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were invited to participate. Classical test theory indexes of reliability, correlations between PCL-R items, factors and facets, external correlations, and factor structure analysis demonstrated that PCL-R affective, interpersonal and lifestyle dimensions were more reliable and valid for the psychopathy than the antisocial construct in this Southern European sample.

Clinician ratings of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) in a representative sample of Spanish prison inmates: New validity evidence.

The Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) is a concept map of psychopathic personality disorder (PPD). The CAPP- Institutional Rating Scale (IRS) is a tool designed to assess CAPP symptoms in institutional settings. The CAPP contains 33 personality traits organized in six domains: attachment, behavioural, cognitive, dominance, emotional and self. Until now, much of the CAPP research has been conducted out of clinical, forensic and correctional settings using self-ratings. In the current study, the psychometric properties and construct validity of the CAPP-IRS were evaluated in a non-convenience sample of 204 Spanish convicts. Clinician ratings were employed. Participants had been imprisoned for at least 6 months at Pereiro de Aguiar Penitentiary. This group of inmates was heterogeneous with respect to type of official charges, and representative as all convicts interned for at least 6 months in this prison were screened for participation. Classical test theory indexes of reliability, correlations between CAPP items and domains and external correlations and structural analyses demonstrated that CAPP assessment is a solid and robust way of evaluating psychopathy in a correctional setting. Best fit was found for a three-factor model: attachment and emotional items associated with a callous and unemotional trait, dominance and self items associated with a pathological interpersonal style, and behavioural and residual items from other domains associated with impulsivity.

Diagnosing Psychopathy through Emotional Regulation Tasks: Heart Rate Variability versus Implicit Association Test.

BACKGROUND: Nowadays, the assessment of psychopathy relies on semistructured interviews plus file reviews. In order to improve the predictive validity of psychopathy at the individual level, tools that are not based on the rating of signs and symptoms are in great need. SAMPLING AND METHODS: The present study was conducted in a representative sample of 204 Spanish sentenced inmates. These inmates have served at least 6 months of their sentence at the Pereiro de Aguiar (Ourense, Spain) penitentiary. Psychopathy signs and symptoms were scored through interview and file review. The Implicit Association Test (IAT) and heart rate variability (HRV) experiments were also conducted. The Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) was performed as a control measure. RESULTS: Spectral HRV indices were able to detect psychopathic inmates at a significant level, while IAT experiments and the IGT could not discriminate them. HRV indices showed a more significant difference when assessing the affective-interpersonal dimensions of psychopathy. CONCLUSIONS: An HRV experiment is better than IAT in order to detect psychopathy in a representative sample of Spanish inmates.

Regression of established hepatocellular carcinoma is induced by chemoimmunotherapy in an orthotopic murine model.

UNLABELLED: The high rate of mortality and frequent incidence of recurrence associated with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) reveal the need for new therapeutic approaches. In this study we evaluated the efficacy of a novel chemoimmunotherapeutic strategy to control HCC and investigated the underlying mechanism that increased the antitumor immune response. We developed a novel orthotopic mouse model of HCC through seeding of tumorigenic hepatocytes from SV40 T antigen (Tag) transgenic MTD2 mice into the livers of syngeneic C57BL/6 mice. These MTD2-derived hepatocytes form Tag-expressing HCC tumors specifically within the liver. This approach provides a platform to test therapeutic strategies and antigen-specific immune-directed therapy in an immunocompetent murine model. Using this model we tested the efficacy of a combination of oral sunitinib, a small molecule multitargeted receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) inhibitor, and adoptive transfer of tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells to eliminate HCC. Sunitinib treatment alone promoted a transient reduction in tumor size. Sunitinib treatment combined with adoptive transfer of tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T cells led to elimination of established tumors without recurrence. In vitro studies revealed that HCC growth was inhibited through suppression of STAT3 signaling. In addition, sunitinib treatment of tumor-bearing mice was associated with suppression of STAT3 and a block in T-cell tolerance. CONCLUSION: These findings indicate that sunitinib inhibits HCC tumor growth directly through the STAT3 pathway and prevents tumor antigen-specific CD8(+) T-cell tolerance, thus defining a synergistic chemoimmunotherapeutic approach for HCC.