ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: although psychopathy is a clinical construct of great importance for both the clinical and forensic field, previous Latin American research has been focused mainly on males. OBJECTIVES: determine the prevalence of psychopathy and of antisocial personality disorder in imprisoned female population. To explore the distribution scores obtained with the PCL-R and to test its psychometric characteristics. METHOD: a randomized sample of 210 participants was obtained from the 570 women imprisoned in the female prison in Santiago, Chile, in June 2014. The participants were evaluated by two independent researchers with the Hare Psychopathy Checklist and the Interpersonal Measure of Psychopathy. The information was obtained from different sources and the interviews were all video-registered for its double check. RESULTS: Prevalence of psychopathy was 11,9% and antisocial personality disorder 43,8%. The results assert that the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised is reliable and valid to be used in women and provide the norms for the professionals working with inmate female population.
Subject(s)
Antisocial Personality Disorder , Prisoners , Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Antisocial Personality Disorder/epidemiology , Checklist , Chile/epidemiology , Female , Humans , PsychometricsABSTRACT
Objective: To examine the utility of the Self-Report Psychopathy-Short Form (SRP-SF) to assess psychopathic traits in female offenders and to test gender-based item modifications. Method: A South American sample of female offenders (n=210) was assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R); 110 subjects also completed the standard SRP-SF, while 109 completed a version with items rewritten to be more relevant for females. The underlying latent structure of the PCL-R and both versions of the SRP-SF were examined. Results: Most of the modified items showed higher average item responses. The PCL-R showed a stronger association with the modified SRP-SF than with the standard SRP-SF. The four-factor model showed very good fit in accounting for the PCL-R data, consistent with previous research. For both SRP-SF versions, the results indicated good model fit. Structural equation models were tested separately, in which a superordinate SRP-SF factor was set to predict a broad factor reflecting chronic misconduct. Both versions showed good model fit, and the SRP-SF superordinate factor significantly predicted a chronic misconduct factor. Conclusions: Both versions of the SRP-SF adequately reflected psychopathic features in this female sample; the modified items added robustness to representation of these features.
Subject(s)
Humans , Female , Adult , Aged , Prisoners/statistics & numerical data , Self Report , Antisocial Personality Disorder/diagnosis , Chile , Analysis of Variance , Middle Aged , Models, TheoreticalABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To examine the utility of the Self-Report Psychopathy-Short Form (SRP-SF) to assess psychopathic traits in female offenders and to test gender-based item modifications. METHOD: A South American sample of female offenders (n=210) was assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R); 110 subjects also completed the standard SRP-SF, while 109 completed a version with items rewritten to be more relevant for females. The underlying latent structure of the PCL-R and both versions of the SRP-SF were examined. RESULTS: Most of the modified items showed higher average item responses. The PCL-R showed a stronger association with the modified SRP-SF than with the standard SRP-SF. The four-factor model showed very good fit in accounting for the PCL-R data, consistent with previous research. For both SRP-SF versions, the results indicated good model fit. Structural equation models were tested separately, in which a superordinate SRP-SF factor was set to predict a broad factor reflecting chronic misconduct. Both versions showed good model fit, and the SRP-SF superordinate factor significantly predicted a chronic misconduct factor. CONCLUSIONS: Both versions of the SRP-SF adequately reflected psychopathic features in this female sample; the modified items added robustness to representation of these features.
