Psychopathy and the combination of psychopathy and sexual deviance as predictors of sexual recidivism: Meta-analytic findings using the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised.

Abstract

Clinicians routinely administer Hare's (2003) Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) to sex offenders and report PCL-R scores as meaningful predictors of recidivism risk. Although a 2005 meta-analysis reported a small (d=0.29) association between PCL-R scores and sexual recidivism (Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005), no meta-analysis has examined effects for PCL-R factors and facets, the widely cited combination of high PCL-R and high sexual deviance scores, or potential moderators of the PCL-R/recidivism relation. We conducted a meta-analysis of effects from all available studies examining the relation between PCL-R scores and sexual recidivism (k=20, N=5,239). The effect for PCL-R Total scores predicting sexual recidivism was d=0.40, which falls beyond the upper end of the 2005 confidence interval [.20, .38]. Effects were stronger for Factor 2 (d=0.44) and Facet 4 (d=0.40) scores than other factor or facet scores (ds=0.01 to 0.17). Effects tended to be stronger for scores calculated for research (d=0.44) compared to those calculated for clinical use (d=0.28). Offenders who scored high on both the PCL-R and a measure of sexual deviance were more likely to reoffend sexually than other offenders (odds ratio=2.80 to 3.21, k=6). Results indicate that PCL-R scores, particularly combined with a measure of sexual deviance, are potentially relevant to sex offender risk. But results also underscore several practical challenges to implementing these findings in routine clinical practice.

Identifying Essential Features of Juvenile Psychopathy in the Prediction of Later Antisocial Behavior

“…The construct shows relatively high stability across adolescence and into adulthood (Lynam, Caspi, Moffitt, Loeber, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 2007; Lynam, Charnigo, Moffitt, Raine, Loeber, & Stouthamer-Loeber, 2009; Neumann, Wampler, Taylor, Blonigen, & Iacono, 2011). It bears robust relations to antisocial behavior, aggression, substance use, and recidivism (Declercq, Willemsen, Audenaert, & Verhaeghe, 2012; Hawes, Boccaccini, & Murrie, 2013; Neumann, Hare, & Pardini, in press). Recent research has even begun to uncover possible neurobiological underpinnings of psychopathy (Seara-Cardoso & Viding, in press).…”

The Role of Psychopathic and Antisocial Personality Traits in Violence Risk Assessment: Implications for Forensic Practice

“…In fact, one meta-analytic study found that the predictive power of psychopathy scores was greatly diminished when psychopathy was assessed by retained mental health experts as part of actual forensic assessments, compared to when it was assessed in a research setting where PCL administration and scoring are highly standardized. 32 This and similar findings 33 are concerning because they suggest that mental health experts who testify with regard to violence risk assessment frequently do not have adequate training and do not follow the standard procedure for coding the checklist items.…”

Telltale Gait: The Role of Nonverbal Cues in Perceptions of Personality and Vulnerability

“…Psychopathic offenders are also more likely to recidivate upon release, often in a violent manner, than nonpsychopathic offenders (Mokros, Vohs, & Habermeyer, 2013;Olver, Lewis, & Wong, 2013;Olver, Stockdale, & Wormith, 2009;Rice & Harris, 2013;Salekin et al, 1996;Yang, Wong, & Coid, 2010). In addition to violence, psychopathic individuals are more likely to engage in persistent sexual offending (e.g., Hanson & Morton-Bourgon, 2005;Hawes, Boccaccini, & Murrie, 2013). The association between psychopathy and violence has also been identified outside of clinical offender samples, where students and general community members scoring higher on psychopathy are more likely to engage in antisocial behaviour than those scoring lower on psychopathy (Walters, 2003a(Walters, , 2003bVitacco, Neumann, & Pardini, 2014).…”