The present meta-analysis integrated effect sizes from 95 non-overlapping studies (N=15,826) to summarize the relation between Hare Psychopathy Checklists and antisocial conduct. Whereas prior meta-analyses focused on specific subdomains of the literature, we used broad inclusion criteria, incorporating a diversity of samples, settings, methodologies, and outcomes in our analysis. Our broad perspective allowed us to identify general trends consistent across the entire literature and improved the power of our analyses. Results indicated that higher PCL Total, Factor 1 (F(1)), and Factor 2 (F(2)) scores were moderately associated with increased antisocial conduct. Study effect sizes were significantly moderated by the country in which the study was conducted, racial composition, gender composition, institutional setting, the type of information used to score psychopathy, and the independence of psychopathy and transgression assessments. However, multiple regression analyses indicated that the information used to assess psychopathy did not have a unique influence on effect sizes after accounting for the influence of other moderator variables. Furthermore, racial composition of the sample was related to the country in which the study was conducted, making it unclear whether one or both of these moderators influenced effect sizes. We provide potential explanations for the significant findings and discuss implications of the results for future research.

Psychopathy has been conceptualized as a personality disorder with distinctive interpersonalaffective and behavioral deviance features. The authors examine correlates of the factors of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), Self-Report Psychopathy-II (SRP-II) scale, and Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) to understand similarities and differences among the constructs embodied in these instruments. PPI Fearless Dominance and SRP-II Factor 1 were negatively related to most personality disorder symptoms and were both predicted by high Dominance and low Neuroticism. In addition, PPI Fearless Dominance correlated positively with antisocial personality features, although SRP-II Factor 1 did not. In contrast, PPI Impulsive Antisociality, SRP-II Factor 2, and both APSD factors correlated with antisocial personality features and symptoms of nearly all personality disorders, and were predicted by low Love. Results suggest ways in which the measurement of the constructs in each instrument may be improved. KeywordsPsychopathic Personality Inventory; Self-Report Psychopathy-II scale; Antisocial Process Screening Device; psychopathy; self-report; nomological network Psychopathy is a personality disorder that is distinguished from common criminality and chronic antisociality by the presence of distinctive interpersonal-affective features (Hare, 2003;Harpur, Hare, & Hakstian, 1989;Lilienfeld, 1994;Lykken, 1995;Patrick & Lang, 1999). Recent self-report measures of psychopathy, including the Self-Report Psychopathy scale (SRP;Hare, 1985Hare, , 1991 and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI; Lilienfeld & Andrews, 1996), demonstrate better convergence and coverage of both the interpersonalaffective and antisocial lifestyle features of psychopathy. Factor analytic work on these and other self-report instruments of psychopathy has revealed that many of these instruments have a two-factor structure, each of which parses the interpersonal-affective and behavioral features into separate subscales (Benning, Patrick, Hicks, Blonigen, & Krueger, 2003;Frick, O'Brien, Wootton, & McBurnett, 1994;Hare, 1991). Here, we examined in an undergraduate sample the construct validity of the two-factor structures of the PPI, the SRP-II scale, and a self-report version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001). We examined the relations of each psychopathy factor to the others, to symptoms of other personality disorders, and to normal-range personality dimensions.Correspondence may be addressed either to Stephen D. Benning, Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (e-mail: benn0224@umn.edu), or to Randall T. Salekin, Department of Psychology, University of Alabama, Box 870348, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487 (e-mail: rsalekin@bama.ua.edu). Cronbach and Meehl (1955) proposed the concept of the nomological network as a theoretical framework for understanding construct validity. In this framework, a network is set up between unobserved theoretical constructs ...

The authors examined the construct of psychopathy as applied to 130 adolescent offenders using 3 psychopathy measures and a broad range of DSM-TV Axis I diagnoses and psychosocial problems. Measures used in the study included the following: (a) Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version, (b) Antisocial Process Screening Device, (c) a modified version of the Self-Report Psychopathy-II scale, and (d) the Adolescent Psychopathology Scale. Results from this study offer incremental support for the construct validity of psychopathy in youth. Psychopathy evidenced better convergent and discriminant validity results than did the disruptive behavior disorders (DBDs) such as oppositional-defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD). Despite this finding, psychopathy scales nonetheless correlated with other forms of psychopathology at a higher rate than was expected, suggesting that comorbidity is high even when psychopathy is used as a classification scheme. Also, hierarchical multiple regression was used to determine whether psychopathy offered an improvement in the prediction of previous violent and nonviolent offenses. The results for the current study were mixed, with only the PCL-YV significantly predicting previous violent and nonviolent offenses beyond the DBDs. The findings indicate that psychopathy may offer incremental improvement over DBDs with regard to level of comorbidity and perhaps even prediction. However, simply extending the adult construct of psychopathy to youth without considering the array of psychopathology that may accompany adolescent psychopathy could be misleading.

Cleckley (1941) hypothesized that true or "primary" psychopathic individuals have "good" intelligence. This study examined the relation between psychopathy and intelligence in 122 detained children and adolescents. We used the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV; Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003) to assess psychopathy and administered novel intelligence measures to tap diverse interpretations of the intelligence construct (e.g., traditional and triarchic intelligence). Structural equation modeling indicated that dimensions of psychopathy and intelligence were related in unique and important ways. In particular, psychopathy traits reflecting a superficial and deceitful interpersonal style were positively related to intellectual skills in the verbal realm (Kaufman's Brief Intelligence Test [K-BIT]; Kaufman & Kaufman, 1990) and a nontraditional intellectual measure reflecting creativity, practicality, and analytic thinking as measured by Sternberg's Triarchic Abilities Test (STAT; Sternberg, 1993). Finally, the results also suggested that psychopathy traits reflecting disturbances in affective processing were inversely associated with verbal intellectual abilities. Thus, Cleckley's hypothesis was partially supported by the data, when taking into account the facets of psychopathy and when examining intelligence from the perspective of traditional and more novel and contemporary intellectual models.

The construct validity of psychopathy was examined in a sample of 114 male and female young offenders (M(age) = 15.16) at a southeastern detention center. The interpersonal circumplex served as a framework of general personality from which to examine the construct of adolescent psychopathy. A supplementary analysis of the psychopathy measures and the Big 5 factors of personality was also conducted using a matrix approach. Measures included: (a) Antisocial Process Screening Device (P. J. Frick & R. D. Hare, 2001); (b) Child Psychopathy Scale (D. R. Lynam, 1996); (c) Psychopathy Checklist--Youth Version (A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 2003); and (d) Interpersonal Adjective Scales Revised--Big 5 Version (P. Trapnell & J. S. Wiggins, 1991; J. S. Wiggins, 1995). Results showed substantial convergence among the three psychopathy measures. In addition, meaningful associations between psychopathy and constructs within the interpersonal circumplex and broader domains of the Big 5 were obtained. Two psychopathy scales correlated to a higher degree than expected with neuroticism. These findings provide evidence linking personality theory to the concept of child and adolescent psychopathy, thereby adding to its construct validity. However, they do so with the caveat that youth may also be displaying some characteristics of neuroticism, suggesting that worry and anxiety may accompany psychopathic features in earlier developmental stages. The implications of the current study are discussed.