Personality Assessment Inventory Scores as Predictors of Evaluation Referrals, Evaluator Opinions, and Commitment Decisions in Sexually Violent Predator Cases

Abstract

We used data from more than 1,500 offenders to examine the association between Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991 ) scores and progress through the sexually violent predator (SVP) screening, evaluation, and commitment process. There was no clear association between PAI scores and referrals for full evaluations, but PAI scores were small to moderate predictors of evaluator opinions and diagnoses among offenders who underwent full evaluations. Higher Antisocial Features (ANT) scores were associated with diagnoses of antisocial personality disorder, but this association was moderated by offender response style. ANT scores were more strongly associated with antisocial personality disorder diagnoses among those responding defensively (d = .71) than among those responding openly (d = .48). The mean ANT score among defensive responders diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder was about 55T, suggesting that even moderate ANT scale elevations could indicate a clinically significant level of antisocial traits among some offenders.

Neuroanatomical Differences Among Sexual Offenders: A Targeted Review with Limitations and Implications for Future Directions

“…Such response behaviors, particularly among a sample of male sexual offenders against children, suggest that this type of offender may be overtly managing others' impressions of them (Tarascavage et al 2018). What is more, minimizing symptoms and behaviors through defensive response styles has been indicated as a predictor of sexual offenders receiving diagnoses of Antisocial Personality Disorder (Boccaccini et al 2017). These findings are important given that antisocial traits and personality characteristics are predictive of both general and sexual recidivism (Hanson and Morton-Bourgon 2005).…”

“…Another form of evaluation that is likely to be useful and relatively more cost-effective compared with imaging studies, is personality assessment. Research examining personality characteristics of sexual offenders have found that sexual offenders may respond differently during assessment and some characteristics are more likely to be related to certain offender types and to reoffending (Boccaccini et al 2017;Tarascavage et al 2018).…”

“…For example, Carvalho and Nobre (2019) found that compared with nonconvicted sexual offenders, convicted rapists and convicted child sexual molesters have greater levels of neuroticism, convicted child sexual molesters exhibit less openness compared with convicted rapists and nonconvicted sexual offenders, and convicted rapists have greater overall psychopathological traits compared with convicted child sexual molesters (although not significantly different from nonconvicted sex offenders). Moreover, sexual offenders are at a greater likelihood, compared with normative samples, to exhibit response styles on personality measures that are indicative of defensiveness, suggesting the minimization of symptoms and behaviors (Boccaccini et al 2017) and underreporting of problematic behaviors (Tarascavage et al 2018).…”

O inventário de avaliação da personalidade (PAI): contributos para a avaliação psicológica em Portugal

“…O PAI tem revelado utilidade em contextos forenses (e.g., correcional, prisional, pericial), auxiliando, a título de exemplo, na avaliação do risco de reincidência criminal e de infrações disciplinares de reclusos (e.g., Boccaccini et al, 2010;Gardner et al, 2015;Jung et al, 2018;Reidy et al, 2016;Ruiz et al, 2014), na avaliação do risco de violência (e.g., Boccaccini et al, 2017;Humenik et al, 2019;Reidy et al, 2016), na avaliação de simulação de sintomas (e.g., Boccaccini et al, 2006;Edens et al, 2007;Kucharski et al, 2007) e na avaliação da competência para ir a tribunal (e.g., Edens et al, 2001;Lally, 2003;Mullen & Edens, 2008).…”