Using the PCL-R to help estimate the validity of two self-report measures of psychopathy with offenders.
Two self-report measures of psychopathy, Levenson's Primary and Secondary Psychopathy scales (LPSP) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), were administered to a large sample of 1,603 offenders. The most widely researched measure of criminal psychopathy, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), served as a provisional referent for estimating the construct validity of these self-report measures with offenders. Compared with the LPSP, the PPI displayed higher zero-order correlations with the PCL-R, better convergent and discriminant validity, and more consistent incremental utility in predicting PCL-R scores. Furthermore, using a variant of Westen and Rosenthal's approach to evaluating the construct validity of a new measure, compared with the LPSP, the PPI's pattern of associations with measures of 35 external criterion variables was more similar to the pattern observed for the PCL-R. Results generally provide stronger support for the validity of the PPI than the LPSP in offender populations using the PCL-R as a provisional benchmark, particularly for assessing interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy.
Poythress
Norman G
NG
Department of Mental Health Law and Policy, Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33612, USA. poythres@fmhi.usf.edu
Lilienfeld
Scott O
SO
Skeem
Jennifer L
JL
Douglas
Kevin S
KS
Edens
John F
JF
Epstein
Monica
M
Patrick
Christopher J
CJ
D005260:Female; D005431:Florida; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009505:Nevada; D009922:Oregon; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010556:Personality Tests; D011329:Prisoners / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011330:Prisons / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000379:methods*; D011599:Psychopathology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012647:Self-Assessment; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D014589:Utah