Psychopathy: Current Knowledge and Future Directions

How can qualitative in-depth interviews optimize cross-cultural measurement of academic resilience?

This study explores how qualitative in-depth interviews can optimize the measurement of academic resilience across cultures, addressing the challenges faced by Chinese university students in academic setbacks. Employing a mixed-methods approach, we conducted in-depth interviews analyzed through grounded theory using Nvivo 14 and developed a measurement scale for academic resilience among Chinese students. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) using IBM SPSS AMOS 28 were performed to validate the scale's psychometric properties. The findings reveal that Chinese students exhibit unique cultural traits in coping with academic setbacks, such as face-saving concerns, guilt, self-blame, and a preference for stability. Their coping strategies involve self-reflection, cognitive restructuring, and external support seeking, shaped by cultural influences. The Chinese University Students' Academic Setback Resilience Scale (CUSASRS) comprises dimensions of proactive coping strategies, learning engagement, and perceptions of academic adversity, offering a comprehensive representation of psychological and behavioral responses. This study contributes to understanding the cultural influences on academic resilience among Chinese students and provides empirical evidence for scale design and intervention strategies.

Negative auditory hallucinations are associated with increased activation of the defensive motivational system in schizophrenia

Auditory hallucinations (AH) are the most common symptom of psychosis. The voices people hear make comments that are benign or even encouraging, but most often voices are threatening and derogatory. Negative AH are often highly distressing and contribute to suicide risk and violent behavior. Biological mechanisms underlying the valence of voices (i.e., positive, negative, neutral) are not well delineated. In the current study, we examined whether AH voice valence was associated with increased activation of the Defensive Motivational System, as indexed by central and autonomic system response to unpleasant stimuli. Data were evaluated from two studies that used a common symptom rating instrument, the Psychotic Symptom Rating Scale (PSY-RATS), to measure AH valence. Participants included outpatients diagnosed with SZ. Tasks included: Study 1: Trier Social Stress Task while heart rate was recorded via electrocardiography (N = 27); Study 2: Passive Viewing Task while participants were exposed to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images from the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) library while eye movements, pupil dilation, and electroencephalography were recorded (N = 25). Results indicated that negative voice content was significantly associated with: 1) increased heart rate during an acute social stressor, 2) increased pupil dilation to unpleasant images, 3) higher neural reactivity to unpleasant images, and 4) a greater likelihood of having bottom-up attention drawn to unpleasant stimuli. Findings suggest that negative AH are associated with greater Defensive Motivational System activation in terms of central and autonomic nervous system response.

Triarchic traits as risk versus protective factors for ADHD symptomatology: A prospective longitudinal investigation

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are associated with myriad adverse outcomes, including interpersonal difficulties, but factors that moderate the developmental course and functional impact of ADHD over time are not well understood. The present study evaluated developmental contributions of the triarchic neurobehavioral traits (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) to ADHD symptomatology and its subdimensions from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants were twins and triplets assessed at ages 14, 17, and 19 (initial N = 1,185, 51.2% female). Path analyses using negative binomial regression revealed that boldness at age 14 was associated with more ADHD symptoms cross-sectionally (especially hyperactivity/impulsivity), but fewer symptoms (especially inattention) at age 19 in the prospective analysis. Notably, inclusion of interpersonal problems at ages 14 and 17 as covariates reduced the latter effect to nonsignificant. Disinhibition concurrently and prospectively predicted higher levels of ADHD symptoms, including both subdimensions, and the prospective effects were partially mediated by greater social impairment at age 17. Meanness prospectively (but not concurrently) predicted higher levels of hyperactivity/impulsivity symptoms. Sex moderated certain associations of meanness and disinhibition with ADHD symptoms. These findings highlight how fundamental neurobehavioral traits shape both psychopathology and adaptive outcomes in the developmental course of ADHD.

Meanness and deficits in facial affect processing: Evidence from the N170

The triarchic construct of meanness, characterized by traits such as low empathy and lack of remorse, appears to be associated with deficits in affective processing. Specifically, meanness-related traits have been linked to deficits in brain reactivity and recognition of facial emotion. Recent meta-analytic work has provided preliminary evidence suggesting that N170 ERP amplitude reductions to fear faces might serve as a neurophysiological marker for meanness traits. However, most of these studies do not examine emotions other than fear, leaving open the question of whether meanness-related alterations in fear face processing might generalize to other facial expressions, nor the role of the other constructs of the triarchic model of psychopathy (i.e., boldness and disinhibition). The current study aimed to address these issues by measuring N170 amplitudes in a mixed-gender sample of 119 undergraduates while they passively viewed a broader range of emotional facial expressions (Anger, Fear, Happiness, and Neutral) alongside control (Scrambled) pictures. The specificity of this association to trait meanness compared to the other triarchic constructs was also assessed. Our results demonstrated meanness-related reductions in N170 amplitudes across all types of facial expressions, not just to fearful faces, even after controlling for the overlap with the other triarchic constructs. These findings highlight a general deficit in the structural encoding of facial features in high mean individuals, emphasizing the potential role of the N170 as a physiological tool for advancing our understanding of the mechanisms contributing to the aggressive, callous, and low-empathic characteristics of psychopathy.

Beyond Trolleyology: The CNI Model of Moral-Dilemma Responses

PUBLIC ABSTRACT

How do people make judgments about actions that violate moral norms yet maximize the greater good (e.g., sacrificing the well-being of a small number of people for the well-being of a larger number of people)? Research on this question has been criticized for relying on highly artificial scenarios and for conflating multiple distinct factors underlying responses in moral dilemmas. The current article reviews research that used a computational modeling approach to disentangle the roles of multiple distinct factors in responses to plausible moral dilemmas based on real-world events. By disentangling sensitivity to consequences, sensitivity to moral norms, and general preference for inaction versus action in responses to realistic dilemmas, the reviewed work provides a more nuanced understanding of how people make judgments about the right course of action in moral dilemmas.

MMPI-3 Assessment of Externalizing Psychopathology in Targeted Community and University Samples

The Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-3 (MMPI-3) scales that are designed to assess various forms of externalizing psychopathology have received relatively little research attention to date. The goal of this investigation was therefore to examine the validity of these MMPI-3 scales in the measurement of the externalizing spectrum. A community sample (n = 206) with high levels of externalizing psychopathology and a university sample (n = 645) were used. The former sample was administered structured clinical interviews for various forms of externalizing psychopathology, whereas the student sample completed the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory-160. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to operationalize the externalizing spectrum using each set of measures. The results indicated that the externalizing MMPI-3 scales were associated with a general externalizing factor and an expected pattern of associations, while systematic residuals of individual disorder symptoms also emerged. Moreover, in the university sample, specific MMPI-3 scales hypothesized to assess antagonistic-externalizing (Aggressiveness, Aggression, and Cynicism) emerged as key predictors of a callous-aggression residual group factor. The Substance Abuse scale was unsurprisingly the best predictor of such dysfunction. These findings provide guidance for mental health practitioners who use the MMPI-3 for the assessment of externalizing psychopathology symptoms.

The risks of unconcern: low sensitivity to threat can have unfortunate consequences

Each one of us is confronted with warnings of danger or threats to wellbeing in our everyday life, whether in the form of certain road signs, Public Service Announcements, ominous changes in bodily functioning, or cautionary tales heard from family or friends. There is great inter-individual variation in how people respond to such threats, with some people habitually tending to ignore or dismiss them, often to their peril. The first purpose of the present paper is to review several studies showing that individuals-most often men-who score very low on measures of trait anxiety are more likely to engage in behaviors that could jeopardize their physical wellbeing. The general hypothesis that is derived from that review is that when attention to everyday threats is chronically muted by way of a dispositional trait, the likelihood of proceeding down some dangerous path is increased. Those findings are then discussed within the broader context of personality theory to highlight the importance of recognizing the bipolarity of common traits. Here the case is made for replacing the term trait anxiety with the term threat sensitivity in order to capture the full breadth of this basic personality variable. A discussion of the neurobiological underpinnings of threat sensitivity is then presented with an emphasis on individual and sex differences in the workings of the defensive survival circuitry. Taken together, this paper has implications for two subfields within psychology. For the area of personality theory, this paper provides support for the adaptationist view with the argument that low threat sensitivity has both adaptive and maladaptive potential. For the area of health psychology, it is argued that some individuals who demonstrate a habitual tendency to neglect their physical wellbeing may be acting-at least in part-in accordance with their innate neurobiological constitution.

Examination of associations between psychopathy and neural reinforcement sensitivity theory constructs

We investigated psychopathy from the neurobiological perspective of reinforcement sensitivity theory (RST). In contrast to previous semantically derived self-report scales, we operationalised RST systems neurally with evoked electroencephalography (EEG). Participants were from a community sample weighted towards externalising psychopathology. We compared the Carver & White Behavioural Inhibition System (BIS)/Behavioural Approach System (BAS) scales with EEG responses associated with RST's systems of goal conflict (aka 'behavioural inhibition'), repulsion/outcome conflict (aka 'fight/flight/freeze') and attraction (aka 'approach'). Bivariate correlations and multiple regression analysis yielded results generally consistent with past literature for associations between psychopathy and the self-report BIS/BAS scales. There were some differences from self-report associations with neural measures of RST. With EEG measures, (1) no meaningful associations were observed between any psychopathy scales and the attraction system; (2) affective-interpersonal traits of psychopathy were negatively associated with goal conflict; (3) disinhibition-behavioural traits of psychopathy were negatively associated with goal conflict but, unexpectedly, positively associated with outcome conflict. These results indicate frontal-temporal-limbic circuit dysfunction in psychopathy as specific domains were linked to neural deficits in goal conflict processing, but there was no evidence for deficits in attraction-related processes.

Longitudinal trajectory classes and correlates of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire-triarchic psychopathy scales from adolescence to young adulthood

The present study examined longitudinal trajectory classes and correlates of triarchic psychopathy domains (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) from age 16 to 22, leveraging Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ)-based triarchic scales data gathered on a large community sample (ns ranging between 483 and 775 across waves) oversampled for parental substance use disorder (SUD). Growth mixture models were conducted to examine longitudinal trajectory classes for each domain, and their associations with environmental covariates (e.g., neighborhood disadvantage and parental SUD) and outcomes at age 22 (e.g., violent behavior, antisocial personality disorder, and an overall problem index capturing internalizing symptoms and social problems). For boldness, all participants fell in the same class showing relative stability over time. Comparable solutions were recovered for meanness and disinhibition (high-stable/increasing, mid-range decreasing, and low-decreasing). Links with external correlates supported well-known differences between boldness and both meanness and disinhibition and additionally revealed interesting differences between meanness and disinhibition, suggesting that environmental covariates better discriminated meanness trajectory classes. These results demonstrate considerable developmental heterogeneity in these traits across adolescence into young adulthood, which relates to outcomes associated with antisociality and general life struggles. Further, these findings support the adequacy of the MPQ as an operationalization tool for longitudinal investigations on psychopathy.

Comparing the DSM-5 Dimensional Trait and Triarchic Model Conceptions of Psychopathy: An External Validity Analysis

In the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD), psychopathy is marked by the presence of attention seeking, low anxiousness, and lack of social withdrawal, along with traits from the domains of Antagonism and Disinhibition. The triarchic model of psychopathy (TriPM) posits three biobehaviorally based traits underlying it: disinhibition, meanness, and boldness. The current study directly compared relations for measures of the two models with the broad dimensions of externalizing, internalizing, and positive adjustment. Participants (1,678 adults) were surveyed regarding maladaptive personality traits, clinical symptoms, and positive adjustment features. The TriPM model explained more variance than the AMPD in substance use, positive adjustment, and empathy, whereas the AMPD model explained more variance in internalizing symptoms. In addition, AMPD Antagonism and the Psychopathy Specifier diverged from TriPM Meanness and Boldness in their associations with some specific outcomes. Overall, our study provides evidence for complementarity of the two models in characterizing the multifaceted nature of psychopathy.

Individual Differences in Females' Adherence to Public Health Measures and Psychopathology Symptoms During a Global Health Crisis: the Role of Triarchic Psychopathic Traits

The two broad aims of this study were to (a) investigate how the three traits of the triarchic model-boldness, meanness, and disinhibition-relate to compliance with public health measures, as well as to internalizing and externalizing psychopathology, during a public health crisis, and (b) test for associations between psychopathology and compliance with public health measures. Participants were 947 Brazilian adult females aged 18-75 years who completed measures of the triarchic traits, internalizing and externalizing symptoms/problems, and a COVID-19 behaviors and beliefs questionnaire. Multiple regression and path analyses showed meanness to be the only triarchic trait significantly predictive of compliance with public health measures, in a negative direction, when controlling for the other traits. Results also demonstrated that compliance with public health measures was associated with levels of distress (negatively), obsessions/fear (positively), and positive mood (negatively). Overall, the results demonstrate the contributions of the triarchic traits to understanding complex phenomena, highlighting meanness as the most essential triarchic trait predictor of adherence to public health measures among females.

Testosterone, cortisol, and psychopathy: Further evidence with the Levenson self-report psychopathy scale and the inventory of callous unemotional traits

The current study explored associations between testosterone, cortisol, and both the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRPS) and the Inventory of Callous Unemotional (ICU) traits. Data were gathered from a relatively large sample of university students (n = 522) and analyses considered direct and interactive associations between hormones and psychopathic traits, as well as interactions between these associations and the time of day at which samples were gathered and the sex of participants. Baseline cortisol had a negative association with LSRPS primary psychopathy scores. In addition, baseline cortisol interacted with the time of day in association with LSRPS total scores. Simple slopes analyses indicated cortisol had a negative association with LSRPS total scores in the morning but not the afternoon. Interactions among hormone measures were not statistically significant. There was also no evidence for the moderation of associations between hormones and psychopathic traits by sex.

Arousal, Gray's theory of anxiety, and the etiology of psychopathy

This paper focuses on Jeffrey Gray's theory of anxiety from the perspective of Fowles' (1980) application of his work to theories of arousal, psychophysiology, and the etiology of psychopathy. Although highly influential, the concept of general arousal failed to find support in terms of between-individuals assessment with multiple physiological measures. Gray's constructs of a behavioral inhibition system (BIS) that mediates anxiety, a behavioral approach or activation system (BAS) that energizes behavior to approach rewards, and a nonspecific arousal system that energizes behavior captured aspects of arousal. Fowles (1980) proposed that the BIS elicits electrodermal activity in response to threats, the BAS increases heart rate in response to reward incentive cues, and psychopathy is associated with a weak BIS. The paper reviews Gray's impact on future research on these topics, including early proposals relevant to the National Institute of Mental Health's Research Domain Criteria. Finally, the paper summarizes the evolution of theories of the etiology of psychopathy since 1980, noting ways in which aspects of Gray's theory are still seen in psychopathy research. Patrick's triarchic model has emerged as a major theory of psychopathy. Beauchaine's trait impulsivity theory of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder also is relevant.

Triarchic Model of Psychopathy and Intimate Partner Violence: An Empirical Study on the Italian Community

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious and recurrent phenomenon in many societies with severe physical and psychological consequences. In the present study, we aimed to explore the role of triarchic dimensions of psychopathy (disinhibition, boldness, and meanness) across gender in this occurrence. A questionnaire on inflicted (self) and experienced (partner) IPV and the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure were administered to a sample of 1,149 individuals from the Italian community. In general, self and partner IPV were moderately correlated. Bayesian regression analysis showed that disinhibition was positively correlated to both self and partner IPV (psychological and physical). In addition, boldness was negatively associated with perpetrated psychological IPV. Interactions by gender showed that meanness was positively related to perpetrated IPV in women (psychological and physical), whereas men with disinhibition features inflicted more physical violence than women. A high externalizing tendency (i.e., disinhibition) is therefore an important correlate of both perpetrated and reported IPV; moreover, boldness was associated with less psychological violence in general, whereas the effect of meanness depended on the gender of the individuals involved. Interestingly, the association between IPV and self-reported delinquent activities was low in magnitude (Spearman's Rho around .20) suggesting limited overlap between these two constructs.

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.

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.

Dark triad personality traits are associated with decreased grey matter volumes in 'social brain' structures

Introduction

Personality traits and the degree of their prominence determine various aspects of social interactions. Some of the most socially relevant traits constitute the Dark Triad - narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism - associated with antisocial behaviour, disregard for moral norms, and a tendency to manipulation. Sufficient data point at the existence of Dark Triad 'profiles' distinguished by trait prominence. Currently, neuroimaging studies have mainly concentrated on the neuroanatomy of individual dark traits, while the Dark Triad profile structure has been mostly overlooked.

Methods

We performed a clustering analysis of the Dirty Dozen Dark Triad questionnaire scores of 129 healthy subjects using the k-means method. The variance ratio criterion (VRC) was used to determine the optimal number of clusters for the current data. The two-sample t-test within the framework of voxel-based morphometry (VBM) was performed to test the hypothesised differences in grey matter volume (GMV) for the obtained groups.

Results

Clustering analysis revealed 2 groups of subjects, both with low-to-mid and mid-to-high levels of Dark Triad traits prominence. A further VBM analysis of these groups showed that a higher level of Dark Triad traits may manifest itself in decreased grey matter volumes in the areas related to emotional regulation (the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, the cingulate cortex), as well as those included in the reward system (the ventral striatum, the orbitofrontal cortex).

Discussion

The obtained results shed light on the neurobiological basis underlying social interactions associated with the Dark Triad and its profiles.

Social exclusion evokes different psychophysiological responses in individuals high on the psychopathy facets fearless dominance and self-centered impulsivity

Individuals with psychopathic personality traits are generally thought to have difficulties in processing and experiencing emotions. These difficulties could also translate to emotionally charged social situations such as social exclusion. Being socially excluded is often experienced as stressful and unpleasant, potentially even leading to selfish or aggressive behavior-both of which are linked to certain aspects of psychopathy. The current study investigated self-report and physiological responses to social exclusion in the cyberball paradigm in a carefully selected community sample of individuals either scoring high on primary (N = 24) or secondary psychopathy traits (N = 17). Across the sample, the cyberball paradigm decreased experiences of joy and approach motivation, increased subjective anger reports, and induced changes in heart rate. In contrast, individuals scoring high on secondary psychopathy traits (Self-Centered Impulsivity group) displayed stronger physiological reactivity during a habituation phase of prolonged social exclusion than individuals scoring high on primary psychopathy traits (Fearless Dominance group), indexed by changes in skin conductance level. Moreover, a potential mismatch between self-reported and physiological arousal seemed to be only observable in individuals with high secondary psychopathy traits. Overall, the current results suggest diverging patterns of emotional processing and regulation in a social exclusion situation when comparing well-functioning individuals with varying psychopathy traits. It seemed as if individuals high on primary psychopathy traits were insensitive to contextual social cues, while individuals high on secondary psychopathy traits were more affected by the potentially threatening social situation. Cautiously transferring the current findings to forensic samples, they support the idea of moving from a behavioral understanding of the psychopathy construct to a more clinical picture with distinct cognitive and emotional processing patterns in individuals high on either primary or secondary psychopathy traits.

Diagnosing callous-unemotional personality traits by heart rate orienting responses to images inducing threat and distress

The present study aimed at developing a rather easily applicable method of testing physiological reactions to images of threats and misery. To this end, rapid-changing, transient heart rate orienting responses were used for gaining physiologically based, objective responses to the images. Additionally, subjective ratings were obtained. A significant insensitivity to other's welfare and well-being was already demonstrated as a core feature of callous-unemotional personalities. Thus, physiologically based methods may supplement and possibly improve existing assessments and, in particular, may contribute to a multimodal assessment of psychopathic traits. Out of a non-forensic community sample of 122 men, we selected two extreme groups of 30 participants with the lowest and highest callous-unemotional traits respectively, ascertained by questionnaires. As expected, participants with higher scores of callous-unemotional traits showed smaller responses to distress cues in both heart rate responses and subjective ratings. Moreover, within the group with high callous-unemotional traits heart rate responses to threatening as well as distress cues did not significantly differ from responses to neutral pictures. The study provides further evidence for the idea that a lack of responsiveness to distress cues may be seen as a central feature of callous-unemotional personalities.

Disentangle psychopathic traits, self-construal and prosocial behaviours: A literature review

Psychopathy encompasses a constellation of personality traits, including interpersonal callousness, absence of remorse and guilt, and impulsivity. While extensive research has linked psychopathy to various antisocial behaviours, there has been a scarcity of studies investigating its association with prosocial behaviours, particularly within diverse sociocultural contexts. This comprehensive review explores recent literature that delves into the intricate interplay between psychopathy, prosocial behaviours, and self-construal. The current review reveals a complex and sometimes contradictory relationship between psychopathy and prosocial behaviours. The authors also examine the role of self-construal, a crucial sociocultural aspect, in relation to psychopathy and prosocial behaviours, and imply the intricate interplay between them. Amidst the review, the interactions between key constructs and sociocultural as well as contextual factors, including group identification and public awareness, are highlighted, and their potential role in modulating individuals' prosocial decision-making is discussed. At last, this review pinpointed notable research gaps: the potential moderating role of self-construal in the connection between psychopathy and prosocial behaviours, and a methodologically specific recommendation for future research is proposed. These findings consolidate the current evidence on psychopathy, self-construal and prosocial behaviours, and offer valuable insights into how sociocultural factors contribute to the heterogeneous expression of psychopathic traits, illuminating the directions for research on the development of culture-specific conceptualizations of psychopathy.

Triarchic psychopathy and affective picture processing: An event-related potential study

Psychopathy and its precursors appear to be associated with abnormal affective response. For example, individuals high in psychopathy show reduced psychophysiological response to unpleasant stimuli, which might explain low levels of empathy in psychopathic individuals, and their pursuit of individual goals without regard for others' wellbeing. In keeping with the notion that psychopathology is best represented on a continuum, the triarchic model suggests that psychopathy is characterized by elevations on three traits: boldness, meanness and disinhibition. Understanding how these traits relate to psychophysiological response to emotional stimuli would help validate the triarchic model, while also bridging to other psychopathological spectra (e.g., internalizing psychopathology, which is characterized by low boldness). Here, N = 123 young adults passively viewed unpleasant, pleasant and neutral pictures while subjective and electrocortical response were recorded. Controlling for the other triarchic traits, individuals with higher self-reported meanness had smaller late positive potentials (LPPs) to both pleasant and unpleasant pictures, whereas individuals higher in boldness had larger LPPs to unpleasant pictures. In addition, those higher in meanness rated unpleasant pictures as more pleasant and less emotionally arousing. Disinhibition was not associated with the LPP or ratings. Meanness appears to drive blunted response to unpleasant pictures that has previously been observed among those high on psychopathy, and may also be associated with reduced engagement with generic pleasant stimuli. Moreover, results converge with prior work on other traits of transdiagnostic relevance (e.g., extraversion), as well as internalizing symptoms, providing a bridge between psychopathy and other forms of psychopathology.

Designing a neuroclinical assessment of empathy deficits in psychopathy based on the Zipper Model of Empathy

Ho, M.H., Kemp, B.T., Eisenbarth, H. & Rijnders, R.J.P. Designing a neuroclinical assessment of empathy deficits in psychopathy based on the Zipper Model of Empathy. NEUROSCI BIOBEHAV REV YY(Y) XXX-XXX, 2023. The heterogeneity of the literature on empathy highlights its multidimensional and dynamic nature and affects unclear descriptions of empathy in the context of psychopathology. The Zipper Model of Empathy integrates current theories of empathy and proposes that empathy maturity is dependent on whether contextual and personal factors push affective and cognitive processes together or apart. This concept paper therefore proposes a comprehensive battery of physiological and behavioral measures to empirically assess empathy processing according to this model with an application for psychopathic personality. We propose using the following measures to assess each component of this model: (1) facial electromyography; (2) the Emotion Recognition Task; (3) the Empathy Accuracy task and physiological measures (e.g., heart rate); (4) a selection of Theory of Mind tasks and an adapted Dot Perspective Task, and; (5) an adjusted Charity Task. Ultimately, we hope this paper serves as a starting point for discussion and debate on defining and assessing empathy processing, to encourage research to falsify and update this model to improve our understanding of empathy.

Situating Psychopathy Within the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) Among Italian Community-Dwelling Adults

Given growing evidence for a joint hierarchical framework of clinical and personality symptomatology, situating triarchic traits within this model would acknowledge transdiagnostic trait-related variance and provide a basis for linking the DSM-5 Alternative Model of Personality Disorders (AMPD) domains to established indicators of these neurobehavioral traits. The current study (N = 2,041 Italian adults) sought to replicate and extend recent evidence regarding the locations of triarchic traits within the AMPD and to examine relations with criterion measures at different levels of the hierarchy. "Bass-ackwards" analyses revealed a hierarchical structure of personality pathology in which triarchic traits aligned with broad dispositional domains of the AMPD. Boldness, meanness, and disinhibition were clearly situated within the Externalizing branch of the hierarchy and helped to differentiate the Negative Affect, Antagonism, Detachment, and Disinhibition domains at lower levels. The current findings support the view of psychopathy as multidimensional and encompassing developmentally meaningful and neurobehaviorally relevant traits.

Construct Validity of Triarchic Model Traits in the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study Using the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire

The triarchic model of psychopathy emphasizes the role of three phenotypic personality domains (boldness, meanness, and disinhibition) that have been operationalized using the well-established Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire. The present study sought to further validate the MPQ-Tri scales and examine their temporal stability and predictive validity across two time points (ages 18 and 26) from the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study, a population-representative and longitudinal sample (N = 1,037). This investigation necessitated modification of the MPQ-Tri scales to enable their use in a broader range of samples, including the Dunedin Study. The revised MPQ-Tri scales demonstrated good temporal stability, and correlation and multiple linear regression analyses predominantly revealed associations consistent with theoretical expectations. Overall, the findings provide support for the MPQ-Tri scales as reliable, stable, and valid measures of the triarchic constructs, which provide a unique opportunity to examine highly novel research questions concerning psychopathy in a wide variety of samples.

Psychopathic tendency in violent offenders is associated with reduced aversive Pavlovian inhibition of behavior and associated striatal BOLD signal

Background

Violent offenders with psychopathic tendencies are characterized by instrumental, i.e., planned, callous, and unemotional (aggressive) behavior and have been shown to exhibit abnormal aversive processing. However, the consequences of abnormal aversive processing for instrumental action and associated neural mechanisms are unclear.

Materials and methods

Here we address this issue by using event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 15 violent offenders with high psychopathic tendencies and 18 matched controls during the performance of an aversive Pavlovian-to-instrumental transfer paradigm. This paradigm allowed us to assess the degree to which aversive Pavlovian cues affect instrumental action and associated neural signaling.

Results

Psychopathic tendency scores were associated with an attenuation of aversive Pavlovian inhibition of instrumental action. Moreover, exploratory analyses revealed an anomalous positive association between aversive inhibition of action and aversive inhibition of BOLD signal in the caudate nucleus of violent offenders with psychopathic tendencies. In addition, psychopathic tendency also correlated positively with amygdala reactivity during aversive versus neutral cues in Pavlovian training.

Conclusion

These findings strengthen the hypothesis that psychopathic tendencies in violent offenders are related to abnormal impact of aversive processing on instrumental behavior. The neural effects raise the possibility that this reflects deficient transfer of aversive Pavlovian inhibitory biases onto neural systems that implement instrumental action, including the caudate nucleus.

A meta-analysis of childhood maltreatment in relation to psychopathic traits

Psychopathy is a personality disorder characterized by a mix of traits belonging to four facets: affective (e.g., callous/lack of empathy), interpersonal (e.g., grandiosity), behavioral instability (e.g., impulsivity, poor behavioral controls), and social deviance (e.g., juvenile delinquency, criminal versatility). Several scholars have argued that early childhood maltreatment impacts the development of psychopathy, although views regarding its role in the four facets differ. We conducted a meta-analysis including 47 studies comprising a total of 389 effect sizes and 12,737 participants, to investigate the association between psychopathy and four types of child maltreatment: physical abuse, emotional abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. We found support for a moderate link between overall psychopathy and childhood physical abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect, as well as overall childhood maltreatment. The link between psychopathy and childhood sexual abuse was small, but still statistically significant. These associations were stronger for the behavioral and antisocial facets than for the affective and interpersonal facets of psychopathy, but nearly all associations were statistically significant. Our findings are consistent with recently developed theories on the role of complex trauma in the development of severe personality disorders. Trauma-focused preventive and therapeutic interventions can provide further tests of the trauma-psychopathy hypothesis.

Stability of self-reported psychopathic traits in at-risk adolescents in youth welfare and juvenile justice institutions

BACKGROUND

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the self-reported stability of psychopathic traits in adolescents in residential care (both child welfare and juvenile justice placed juveniles) and potential influencing factors.

METHODS

We applied the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI) in a sample of 162 adolescents (M = 15.0 years, SD = 1.3) over a mean time interval of 11 months (min. 6, max. 21 months, SD = 3.14).

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in YPI total score nor in the three underlying dimensions Grandiose-Manipulative (GM), Callous-Unemotional (CU), and Impulsive-Irresponsible (II) between t1 and t2. Furthermore, approximately 70% of the adolescents showed no clinically significant reliable change on the YPI total score (as measured with the reliable change index), 15% improved, 15% deteriorated. The strongest predictor for psychopathic traits at t2 were psychopathic traits at t1. Additional predictors for higher levels of general psychopathic traits was male sex, for CU-traits male sex and lower levels of internalizing mental health problems, and for II-traits higher levels of externalizing mental health problems. Generally, the three reliable change groups (increase, no change, decrease) did not seemed to differ on relevant factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results add to the findings that psychopathic traits are relatively stable in this at-risk group over approximately a 1-year time interval. Research with a longer follow-up time and more time points is warranted to better interpret these results.

Trait boldness and emotion regulation: An event-related potential investigation

The present study sought to extend knowledge of the role of boldness, a transdiagnostic bipolar trait dimension involving low sensitivity to threat, in emotional reactivity and regulation using physiological and report-based measures. One prior study found that boldness was associated with reduced late positive potential (LPP) while passively viewing aversive images, but not during emotion regulation; a disconnect between LPP and self-reported reactivity was also observed. Here, participants (N = 63) completed an emotion regulation task in which they either passively viewed or effortfully up- or downregulated their emotional reactivity to pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures while EEG activity was recorded; they later retrospectively rated the success of their regulation efforts. ANOVAs examining the interactive effects of regulation instruction and boldness on LPP amplitude revealed that lower boldness (higher trait fearfulness) was associated with paradoxical increases in LPP to threat photos during instructed downregulation, relative to passive viewing, along with lower reported regulation success on these trials. Unexpectedly, similar LPP effects were observed for affective images overall, and especially nurturance photos. Although subject to certain limitations, these results suggest that individual differences in boldness play a role not only in general reactivity to aversive stimuli, as evidenced by prior work, but in the ability to effortfully downregulate emotional response.