Noah C. Venables

A construct-network approach to bridging diagnostic and physiological domains: application to assessment of externalizing psychopathology.

A crucial challenge in efforts to link psychological disorders to neural systems, with the aim of developing biologically informed conceptions of such disorders, is the problem of method variance (Campbell & Fiske, 1959). Since even measures of the same construct in differing domains correlate only moderately, it is unsurprising that large sample studies of diagnostic biomarkers yield only modest associations. To address this challenge, a construct-network approach is proposed in which psychometric operationalizations of key neurobehavioral constructs serve as anchors for identifying neural indicators of psychopathology-relevant dispositions, and as vehicles for bridging between domains of clinical problems and neurophysiology. An empirical illustration is provided for the construct of inhibition-disinhibition, which is of central relevance to problems entailing deficient impulse control. Findings demonstrate that: (1) a well-designed psychometric index of trait disinhibition effectively predicts externalizing problems of multiple types, (2) this psychometric measure of disinhibition shows reliable brain response correlates, and (3) psychometric and brain-response indicators can be combined to form a joint psychoneurometric factor that predicts effectively across clinical and physiological domains. As a methodology for bridging between clinical problems and neural systems, the construct-network approach provides a concrete means by which existing conceptions of psychological disorders can accommodate and be reshaped by neurobiological insights.

Validity of the Externalizing Spectrum Inventory in a criminal offender sample: relations with disinhibitory psychopathology, personality, and psychopathic features.

The Externalizing Spectrum Inventory (ESI; Krueger, Markon, Patrick, Benning, & Kramer, 2007) provides a self-report based method for indexing a range of correlated problem behaviors and traits in the domain of deficient impulse control. The ESI organizes lower order behaviors and traits of this kind around higher order factors encompassing general disinhibitory proneness, callous-aggression, and substance abuse. In the current study, we used data from a male prisoner sample (N = 235) to evaluate the validity of ESI total and factor scores in relation to external criterion measures consisting of externalizing disorder symptoms (including child and adult antisocial deviance and substance-related problems) assessed via diagnostic interviews, personality traits assessed with self-reports, and psychopathic features as assessed with both interviews and self-reports. Results provide evidence for the validity of the ESI measurement model and point to its potential usefulness as a referent for research on the neurobiological correlates and etiological bases of externalizing proneness.

Differentiating psychopathy from antisocial personality disorder: a triarchic model perspective

BACKGROUND The triarchic model of psychopathy characterizes the disorder in terms of three distinguishable phenotypic facets: disinhibition, meanness and boldness. The present study sought to (1) inform current debates regarding the role of boldness in the definition of psychopathy and (2) clarify boundaries between psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder (ASPD). METHOD This study evaluated the degree to which facets of the triarchic model are represented in the most widely used clinical inventory for psychopathy, the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R), in comparison with ASPD as defined by DSM-IV criteria. Adult male offenders from two distinct correctional settings (n = 157 and 169) were investigated to ensure replicability of findings across samples exhibiting high base rates of psychopathy and antisocial behavior. RESULTS We found evidence for convergent and discriminant validity of the three triarchic facets in predicting symptomatic components of psychopathy as assessed by the PCL-R. Additionally, and crucially vis-à-vis current debates in the field, we found that boldness contributed incrementally (over and above disinhibition and meanness) to prediction of PCL-R psychopathy, in particular its interpersonal style component, but not ASPD. CONCLUSIONS The three distinct facets of the triarchic model of psychopathy are represented clearly and distinctly in the PCL-R, with boldness through its interpersonal facet, but not in DSM-defined ASPD. Our findings suggest that boldness is central to diagnostic conceptions of psychopathy and distinguishes psychopathy from the more prevalent diagnosis of ASPD.

Evidence for a heritable brain basis to deviance-promoting deficits in self-control

PURPOSE Classic criminological theories emphasize the role of impaired self-control in behavioral deviancy. Reduced amplitude of the P300 brain response is reliably observed in individuals with antisocial and substance-related problems, suggesting it may serve as a neurophysiological indicator of deficiencies in self-control that confer liability to deviancy. METHODS The current study evaluated the role of self-control capacity - operationalized by scores on a scale measure of trait disinhibition - in mediating the relationship between P300 brain response and behavioral deviancy in a sample of adult twins (N=419) assessed for symptoms of antisocial/addictive disorders and P300 brain response. RESULTS As predicted, greater disorder symptoms and higher trait disinhibition scores each predicted smaller P300 amplitude, and trait disinhibition mediated observed relations between antisocial/addictive disorders and P300 response. Further, twin modeling analyses revealed that trait disinhibition scores and disorder symptoms reflected a common genetic liability, and this genetic liability largely accounted for the observed phenotypic relationship between antisocial-addictive problems and P300 brain response. CONCLUSIONS These results provide further evidence that heritable weaknesses in self-control capacity confer liability to antisocial/addictive outcomes and that P300 brain response indexes this dispositional liability.

Clarifying relations between dispositional aggression and brain potential response: Overlapping and distinct contributions of impulsivity and stress reactivity

Impulsive-aggressive individuals exhibit deficits in amplitude of the P3 brain potential response, however, it remains unclear how separable dispositional traits account for this association. The current study sought to clarify the basis of this association by examining contributions of trait impulsiveness and stress reactivity to the observed relationship between dispositional aggression and amplitude of the P3 brain potential response in a visual novelty-oddball procedure. A significant negative association was found between aggressiveness and amplitude of P3 response to both target and novel stimuli over frontal-central scalp sites. Impulsivity showed a parallel inverse relationship with P3 amplitude, attributable to its overlap with dispositional aggression. In contrast, stress reactivity did not exhibit a zero-order association with P3 amplitude, but modestly predicted P3 in a positive direction after accounting for its overlap with aggression. Results are discussed in terms of their implications for individual difference variables and brain processes underlying impulsive-aggressive behavior.

Heritability of the neural response to emotional pictures: evidence from ERPs in an adult twin sample

Affect-modulated event-related potentials (ERPs) are increasingly used to study psychopathology and individual differences in emotion processing. Many have suggested that variation in these neural responses reflects genetically mediated risk. However, to date, no studies have demonstrated genetic contributions to affect-modulated ERPs. The present study therefore sought to examine the heritability of a range of ERPs elicited during affective picture viewing. One hundred and thirty monozygotic and 124 dizygotic twin pairs passively viewed 30 pleasant, 30 neutral and 30 unpleasant images for 6 s each. The early posterior negativity was scored for each subject; in addition, the P300/late positive potential (LPP) was scored in multiple time windows and sites. Results indicate that the centro-parietal P300 (occurring between 300 and 600 ms) is subject to substantial genetic contributions. Furthermore, variance in the P300 elicited by affective stimuli was moderately heritable even after controlling for the P300 elicited by neutral stimuli. Later and more frontal activation (i.e. between 1000 and 3000 ms) also showed evidence of heritablity. Early parietal, and perhaps later frontal portions of the P300/LPP complex, may therefore represent promising neurobehavioral markers of genetically influenced processing of emotional information.

Separate and interactive contributions of weak inhibitory control and threat sensitivity to prediction of suicide risk

Biobehavioral dispositions can serve as valuable referents for biologically oriented research on core processes with relevance to many psychiatric conditions. The present study examined two such dispositional variables-weak response inhibition (or disinhibition; INH-) and threat sensitivity (or fearfulness; THT+)-as predictors of the serious transdiagnostic problem of suicide risk in two samples: male and female outpatients from a U.S. clinic (N=1078), and a population-based male military cohort from Finland (N=3855). INH- and THT+ were operationalized through scores on scale measures of disinhibition and fear/fearlessness, known to be related to DSM-defined clinical conditions and brain biomarkers. Suicide risk was assessed by clinician ratings (clinic sample) and questionnaires (both samples). Across samples and alternative suicide indices, INH- and THT+ each contributed uniquely to prediction of suicide risk-beyond internalizing and externalizing problems in the case of the clinic sample where diagnostic data were available. Further, in both samples, INH- and THT+ interactively predicted suicide risk, with individuals scoring concurrently high on both dispositions exhibiting markedly augmented risk. Findings demonstrate that dispositional constructs of INH- and THT+ are predictive of suicide risk, and hold potential as referents for biological research on suicidal behavior.

Reconciling discrepant findings for P3 brain response in criminal psychopathy through reference to the concept of externalizing proneness

We sought to address inconsistencies in the literature on amplitude of P3 brain potential response in offenders diagnosed with psychopathy. These inconsistencies contrast with the reliable finding of reduced P3 in relation to externalizing tendencies, which overlap with impulsive-antisocial features of psychopathy, as distinguished from the affective-interpersonal features. Employing a sample of incarcerated male offenders (N = 154) who completed the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised along with a three-stimulus visual oddball task, we tested the hypothesis that impulsive-antisocial features of psychopathy would selectively exhibit an inverse relationship with P3 amplitude. Clear support for this hypothesis was obtained. Our findings clarify the discrepant findings regarding psychopathy and P3, and establish P3 as a neurophysiological point of contact between psychopathy and externalizing proneness from the broader psychopathology literature.

The role of fearless dominance in differentiating psychopathy from antisocial personality disorder: comment on Marcus, Fulton, and Edens.

Comments on the original article by Marcus et al. (see record 2011-23134-001). Based on their meta-analytic review of the correlates of the two factors of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), Fearless Dominance (FD) and Self-Centered Impulsivity (SCI), Marcus, Fulton, and Edens (this issue, pp. 70-79) raise important questions about the role of FD in diagnostic conceptualizations of psychopathy. In considering their findings, general limitations of metaanalyses (e.g., Ioannidis & Lau, 1999) should be borne in mind, along with specific limitations of their analysis. These limitations are discussed here.

Personality, personal values and growth in military special unit patrol teams operating in a polar environment.

This longitudinal study assessed personality traits, personal values and personal growth of six two-man Danish military Sirius Patrol teams. The NEO Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO PI-R) findings indicated a psychologically adapted group, consistent with the elevation on the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) Boldness factor. Self-direction, Universalism, and Stimulation were the highest rated and stable values on the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ); the Power value showed a significant linear increase over time. The Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) findings indicated perceptions of considerable growth through participating in the Sirius Patrol. Assessment of the combination of personality traits and value hierarchies of other military groups in relation to types of operations engaged in is considered.