Assessment of psychopathy as a function of age.
The assessment of psychopathy was examined as a function of age in 889 male prison inmates between the ages of 16 and 69. Ratings of psychopathy were made with the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL), which measures 2 correlated factors. Factor 1 describes a cluster of affective-interpersonal traits central to psychopathy. Factor 2 describes traits and behaviors associated with an unstable, unsocialized lifestyle, or social deviance. Cross-sectional analyses revealed that mean scores on Factor 1 were stable across the age-span; mean scores on Factor 2 declined with age. The prevalence of antisocial personality disorder, and, to a lesser extent of PCL-defined psychopathy, also declined with age. The results are consistent with a conceptualization of psychopathy as encompassing 2 correlated but distinct constructs. They also suggest that age-related differences in traits related to impulsivity, social deviance, and antisocial behavior are not necessarily paralleled by differences in the egocentric, manipulative, and callous traits fundamental to psychopathy.
Harpur
T J
TJ
Department of Psychology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Hare
R D
RD
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011329:Prisoners