Collateral Report of Psychopathy: Convergent and Divergent Validity of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form

Newborn Brain Function and Early Emerging Callous-Unemotional Traits

Importance

Children with high callous-unemotional traits are more likely to develop severe and persistent conduct problems; however, the newborn neurobiology underlying early callous-unemotional traits remains unknown. Understanding the neural mechanisms that precede the development of callous-unemotional traits could help identify at-risk children and encourage development of novel treatments.

Objective

To determine whether newborn brain function is associated with early-emerging empathy, prosociality, and callous-unemotional traits.

Design, Setting, and Participants

In this prospective, longitudinal cohort study, pregnant women were recruited from obstetric clinics in St Louis, Missouri, from September 1, 2017, to February 28, 2020, with longitudinal data collected until March 20, 2023. Mothers were recruited during pregnancy. Newborns underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging shortly after birth. Mothers completed longitudinal follow-up when the children were aged 1, 2, and 3 years.

Exposures

The sample was enriched for exposure to socioeconomic disadvantage.

Main Outcome and Measure

Functional connectivity between hypothesized brain regions was assessed using newborn-specific networks and voxel-based connectivity analyses. Children's callous-unemotional traits were measured using the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits. Empathy and prosociality were assessed using the Infant and Toddler Socio-Emotional Assessment.

Results

A total of 283 children (mean [SD] gestational age, 38 [2] weeks; 159 male [56.2%]; 2 Asian [0.7%], 171 Black [60%], 7 Hispanic or Latino [2.5%], 106 White [38%], 4 other racial or ethnic group [1.4%]) were included in the analysis. Stronger newborn functional connectivity between the cingulo-opercular network (CO) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was associated with higher callous-unemotional traits at age 3 years (β = 0.31; 95% CI, 0.17-0.41; P < .001). Results persisted when accounting for parental callous-unemotional traits and child externalizing symptoms. Stronger newborn CO-mPFC connectivity was also associated with lower empathy and lower prosociality at ages 1, 2, and 3 years using multilevel models (β = -0.12; 95% CI, -0.21 to -0.04; P = .004 and β = -0.20; 95% CI, -0.30 to -0.10; P < .001, respectively).

Conclusions and Relevance

Newborn functional connectivity was associated with early-emerging empathy, prosociality, and callous-unemotional traits, even when accounting for parental callous-unemotional traits and child externalizing symptoms. Understanding the neurobiological underpinnings of empathy, prosociality, and callous-unemotional traits at the earliest developmental point may help early risk stratification and novel intervention development.

Psychopathic femicide: The influence of psychopathy on intimate partner homicide

High scores in psychopathy were associated with acts of violence, and the prevalence of this condition is greater among the prison population than among the general population. In terms of its relation to femicide, two studies, one carried out in Sweden and another in Spain with a prison population, found that psychopathy is an uncommon condition among perpetrators of femicide. This study analyzes 97 cases of femicide in the whole of Spain, in which it was possible to evaluate the degree of psychopathy of the perpetrators using the Psychopathy Checklist‐Revised (PCL‐R). The scores are analyzed not only directly, but also in terms of Factors and Facets. The results show an average in the total score of the PCL‐R of 14.4, with only 13 subjects (13.4%) presenting scores of 25 or more, and just 3 (3.1%) of these presenting scores of 30 or higher. It was found that, in general, high scores in psychopathy are associated with shorter relationships and less time between the first complaint, the breakup, and the femicide. What is more, characteristics of the victims, such as addiction to toxic substances or economic dependency, also demonstrated a relationship to the scores of the perpetrators of femicide in the PCL‐R. Lastly, it was found that the scores in the different dimensions of psychopathy are associated with different types of violence, whereby there was a noteworthy difference between the most explicit violence and control exercised over the partner.

Evaluating the validity of brief prototype-based informant ratings of triarchic psychopathy traits in prisoners

The validity of self-report psychopathy assessment has been questioned, especially in forensic settings where clinical evaluations influence critical decision-making (e.g., institutional placement, parole eligibility). Informant-based assessment offers a potentially valuable supplement to self-report but is challenging to acquire in under-resourced forensic contexts. The current study evaluated, within an incarcerated sample (n = 322), the extent to which brief prototype-based informant ratings of psychopathic traits as described by the triarchic model (boldness, meanness, disinhibition; Patrick et al., 2009) converge with self-report trait scores and show incremental validity in predicting criterion measures. Self/informant convergence was robust for traits of boldness and disinhibition, but weaker for meanness. Informant-rated traits showed incremental predictive validity over self-report traits, both within and across assessment domains. These findings indicate that simple prototype-based informant ratings of the triarchic traits can provide a useful supplement to self-report in assessing psychopathy within forensic-clinical settings.

Intimate Partner Violence Perpetration and Psychopathy: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract. Intimate partner violence (IPV) is the physical, sexual, and psychological abuse of an intimate partner and is a widespread, international public health crisis. An important proximate risk factor for IPV perpetration is the presence of psychopathic traits but there has not been a systematic review of the research linking psychopathic traits to IPV perpetration. We identified 43 studies using 13,476 participants (9,024 men and 4,452 women) across 10 countries that met our search criteria that led to the following conclusions. First, psychopathy was associated with IPV perpetration with medium effect sizes, even after accounting for various distal and proximate risk factors. Second, the different dimensions of psychopathy did not consistently differ in their prediction of IPV perpetration. Third, within individuals with a history of IPV perpetration, psychopathy did not relate to the frequency or severity of partner violence. Fourth, a few studies have tested the associations among child abuse, psychopathy, and IPV, with one study reporting that the combination of child abuse and psychopathic traits led to especially high risk for IPV perpetration. Lastly, we conclude by making recommendations for how future research and interventions should consider psychopathy to reduce the societal burden of IPV.

Do impression management and self-deception distort self-report measures with content of dynamic risk factors in offender samples? A meta-analytic review

Self-report measures provide an important source of information in correctional/forensic settings, yet at the same time the validity of that information is often questioned because self-reports are thought to be highly vulnerable to self-presentation biases. Primary studies in offender samples have provided mixed results with regard to the impact of socially desirable responding on self-reports. The main aim of the current study was therefore to investigate-via a meta-analytic review of published studies-the association between the two dimensions of socially desirable responding, impression management and self-deceptive enhancement, and self-report measures with content of dynamic risk factors using the Balanced Inventory of Desirable Responding (BIDR) in offender samples. These self-report measures were significantly and negatively related with self-deception (r = -0.120, p < 0.001; k = 170 effect sizes) and impression management (r = -0.158, p < 0.001; k = 157 effect sizes), yet there was evidence of publication bias for the impression management effect with the trim and fill method indicating that the relation is probably even smaller (r = -0.07). The magnitude of the effect sizes was small. Moderation analyses suggested that type of dynamic risk factor (e.g., antisocial cognition versus antisocial personality), incentives, and publication year affected the relationship between impression management and self-report measures with content of dynamic risk factors, whereas sample size, setting (e.g., incarcerated, community), and publication year influenced the relation between self-deception and these self-report measures. The results indicate that the use of self-report measures to assess dynamic risk factors in correctional/forensic settings is not inevitably compromised by socially desirable responding, yet caution is warranted for some risk factors (antisocial personality traits), particularly when incentives are at play.

Self- and informant perceptions of psychopathic traits in relation to the triarchic model

OBJECTIVE

The validity of self-report psychopathy measures may be undermined by characteristics thought to be defining features of the construct, including poor self-awareness, pathological lying, and impression management. The current study examined agreement between self- and informant perceptions of psychopathic traits captured by the triarchic model (Patrick, Fowler, & Krueger, 2009) and the extent to which psychopathic traits are associated with socially desirable responding.

METHOD

Participants were undergraduate roommate dyads (N = 174; M_age  = 18.9 years; 64.4% female; 59.8% Caucasian) who completed self- and informant reports of boldness, meanness, and disinhibition.

RESULTS

Self-reports of psychopathic traits reasonably aligned with the perceptions of informants (rs = .36-.60), and both predicted various types of antisocial behaviors, although some associations were only significant for monomethod correlations. Participants viewed by informants as more globally psychopathic did not engage in greater positive impression management. However, this response style significantly correlated with self- and informant-reported boldness, suppressing associations with antisocial behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

These findings suggest that participants are willing and able to disclose psychopathic personality traits in research settings under conditions of confidentiality. Nonetheless, accounting for response style is potentially useful when using self-report measures to examine the nature and correlates of psychopathic traits.