Joseph P. Newman

Hostile attributional biases in severely aggressive adolescents.

Adolescent boys (N = 128) from a maximum security prison for juvenile offenders were administered a task to assess hostile attributional biases. As hypothesized, these biases were positively correlated with undersocialized aggressive conduct disorder (as indicated by high scores on standardized scales and by psychiatric diagnoses), with reactive-aggressive behavior, and with the number of interpersonally violent crimes committed. Hostile attributional biases were found not to relate to nonviolent crimes or to socialized aggressive behavior disorder. These findings held even when race and estimates of intelligence and socioeconomic status were controlled. These findings suggest that within a population of juvenile offenders, attributional biases are implicated specifically in interpersonal reactive aggression that involves anger and not in socialized delinquency.

Evaluating the construct validity of psychopathy in Black and White male inmates: Three preliminary studies.

Although Black inmates represent almost half the population of United States prisons and have been included in several studies of psychopathy, there appear to be no published studies to date addressing the validity of the psychopathy construct in Black inmates. Three studies were conducted to assess the validity of the construct in Black male inmates using Hares Psychopathy Checklist (PCL). In Study 1, we examined the internal structure of the PCL and the relation of checklist scores to several constructs relevant to psychopathy. We observed differences between Blacks and Whites in the distribution of psychopathy scores, in the relation of psychopathy to measures of impulsivity, and in the congruence of the underlying factor structure of the PCL. In Study 2, Black psychopaths were found to manifest a pattern of passive avoidance deficits similar but not identical to that reported for White psychopaths in Newman and Kossons study. Study 3 demonstrated that psychopaths of both races receive more criminal charges in a wider variety of offense categories than do nonpsychopaths. The psychopathy construct appears tentatively applicable to Blacks, although its components may be somewhat different than for Whites.

Reaction to punishment in extraverts and psychopaths: Implications for the impulsive behavior of disinhibited individuals☆

Abstract To explore the factors mediating impulsivity in the syndromes of disinhibition, we investigated the ability of extraverts and psychopaths to use signals for punishment to withhold maladaptive approach behavior under various incentive conditions. The results provide evidence that (a) in comparison to controls, extraverts and psychopaths fail to use cues for punishment to inhibit incorrect approach responses; (b) the deficient response inhibition of disinhibited subjects is specific to approach-avoidance situations; (c) under conditions involving monetary rewards and punishments, disinhibited subjects are less likely to slow down, and may even respond more quickly, following punishment; and (d) the tendency to speed up rather than slow down following punishment is associated with failure to learn from punishment. The results suggest that once focused on obtaining reward, extraverts and psychopaths display an active (disinhibited) as opposed to a passive (reflective) reaction to punishment and frustrative nonreward. This reaction to punishment appears to interfere with learning cues for punishment and may underlie the poor passive avoidance learning and impulsive behavior that characterize the syndromes of disinhibition.

Diverse pathways to deficient self-regulation: Implications for disinhibitory psychopathology in children.

Abstract Laboratory evidence from research employing adult subjects has revealed three different pathways to the breakdown of self-regulation. The pathways are elucidated using Grays neuropsychological model of approach/avoidance learning: One pathway, associated with Grays behavioral activation system (BAS), is triggered by cues for reward; another, associated with the behavioral inhibition system (BIS), is triggered by cues for punishment; and the third involves an intrinsic deficit in the automatic integration of BAS and BIS processes which results in more widespread self-regulatory problems. We propose that childhood disinhibition also reflects diverse etiological processes and review the potential implications of our proposals for the development of conduct disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and several “comorbid” syndromes (i.e., those manifesting multiple dimensions of psychopathology).

Identifying Psychopathy Subtypes on the Basis of Personality Structure

The authors used model-based cluster analysis to identify subtypes of criminal psychopaths on the basis of differences in personality structure. Participants included 96 male prisoners diagnosed as psychopathic, using the Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R; R. D. Hare, 1991). Personality was assessed using the brief form of the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire (MPQ-BF; C. J. Patrick, J. J. Curtin, and A. Tellegen, 2002). The best-fitting model yielded two clusters. Emotionally stable psychopaths were characterized by low Stress Reaction and high Agency. Aggressive psychopaths were characterized by high Negative Emotionality, low Constraint, and low Communion. These results suggest that psychopaths as defined by the PCL-R includes distinct subtypes, distinguishable in terms of personality structure, that may reflect different etiologies.

Alcohol and drug abuse-dependence disorders in psychopathic and nonpsychopathic criminal offenders.

Co-occurrence of psychopathy (assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist) and lifetime Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (3rd ed.) alcohol and drug disorders (assessed with the National Institute of Mental Health Diagnostic Interview Schedule) was examined in a sample of 360 male inmates. Consistent with previous research that used diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder, psychopaths were more likely than nonpsychopaths to have lifetime diagnoses of alcoholism, any drug disorder, and multiple drug disorders. We also examined the relation between substance abuse and the 2 factors of the Psychopathy Checklist. Substance abuse was significantly related to general social deviance (Factor 2) but was unrelated to core personality features of psychopathy (Factor 1). We present two possible models of psychopathy (unitary syndrome vs. dual-diathesis model) that may account for the association between psychopathy and substance abuse.

Validating a distinction between primary and secondary psychopathy with measures of Gray's BIS and BAS constructs.

Investigators commonly distinguish between primary and secondary psychopathy (H. Cleckley, 1976; D.T. Lykken, 1995), though there is a lack of consensus regarding the best means to achieve this distinction. To address the validity of using R. D. Hares (2003) Psychopathy Checklist and the G. Welsh (1956) Anxiety Scale for this purpose, the authors used 2 measures of J. A. Grays (1987) behavioral inhibition system/behavioral activation system (BIS/BAS). Following D. T. Lykken (1995) and D. C. Fowles (1980), the authors hypothesized that primary psychopathy would be associated with a weak BIS and a normal BAS, whereas secondary psychopathy would be associated with a strong BAS and a normal BIS. Results for primary psychopathy were as predicted. Results for secondary psychopathy clearly supported the strong BAS prediction but provided mixed support for the normal BIS prediction.

Construct validation of a self-report psychopathy scale: does Levenson's self-report psychopathy scale measure the same constructs as Hare's psychopathy checklist-revised?

Abstract In an effort to validate Levenson, Kiehl and Fitzpatricks [Levenson, M. R., Kiehl, K. A., & Fitzpatrick, C. M. (1995). Assessing psychopathic attributes in a noninstitutionalized population. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology , 68 , 151–158] . Self-report Psychopathy Scale (SRPS) we compared it to Hares [Hare, R. D. (1991). The Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems] (PCL-R) and examined its relation to criminal activity and a passive avoidance task. Participants were 270 Caucasian and 279 African-American participants in a minimum security state prison. Confirmatory factor analysis provided modest support for the original SRPS factor structure. Although diagnostic concordance of the two instruments ranged from poor to fair, the SRPS and the PCL-R were significantly correlated and both showed similar patterns of correlations to measures of substance abuse and criminal versatility. Both measures were also predictive of performance on a passive avoidance task. While this constellation of findings provides some evidence for the construct validity of the SRPS, it also suggests that the SRPS may not measure the same construct as the PCL-R and further refinement of the instrument appears to be warranted.

Reduced Prefrontal Connectivity in Psychopathy

Linking psychopathy to a specific brain abnormality could have significant clinical, legal, and scientific implications. Theories on the neurobiological basis of the disorder typically propose dysfunction in a circuit involving ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). However, to date there is limited brain imaging data to directly test whether psychopathy may indeed be associated with any structural or functional abnormality within this brain area. In this study, we employ two complementary imaging techniques to assess the structural and functional connectivity of vmPFC in psychopathic and non-psychopathic criminals. Using diffusion tensor imaging, we show that psychopathy is associated with reduced structural integrity in the right uncinate fasciculus, the primary white matter connection between vmPFC and anterior temporal lobe. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we show that psychopathy is associated with reduced functional connectivity between vmPFC and amygdala as well as between vmPFC and medial parietal cortex. Together, these data converge to implicate diminished vmPFC connectivity as a characteristic neurobiological feature of psychopathy.

The Reliability and Validity of the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised in a Sample of Female Offenders

The reliability and validity of the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL–R) was examined in a sample of 528 nonpsychotic female offenders participating in a study assessing the generalizability of the instrument to females using personality, attitudinal, and laboratory behavioral measures. Results showed good interrater reliability and adequate internal consistency. Correlations with a number of self-report validity measures and previous criminal behavior provide support for the convergent validity of the instrument. A lack of association with general psychopathology provides support for the discriminant validity of the instrument. However, significant correlations with anxiety, negative affectivity, and intelligence run counter to expectations and to findings with male offenders. Furthermore, the low base rate of psychopathy in this sample, relative to base rates among male prisoners, raises the concern that either psychopathy is less prevalent in females than in males or the PCL–R is not adequately assessing the construct in female offenders.