The role of psychopathic personality disorder in violence risk assessments using the HCR-20.
Antisocial and psychopathic traits are essential to evaluate when assessing risk for violence using the HCR-20. The role of the PCL-R on the HCR-20 was investigated using a series of meta-analytic tests. Across 34 samples in which both tools were rated, AUCs for violence were similar (∼.69), and exclusion of the psychopathy item (H7) did not reduce the HCR-20's accuracy. Quantitative synthesis of results from multivariate analyses conducted in 7 raw datasets that used both tools demonstrated that the average probability of observing violence for every point increase on the HCR-20 (without H7), while controlling for the PCL-R, was 23%, whereas for the PCL-R it was -1%. The HCR-20 (without H7) added incremental validity to the PCL-R, whereas the converse was not true, and only the HCR-20 (without H7) possessed unique predictive validity. Results suggest the HCR-20's predictive validity was not negatively impacted by excluding the PCL-R. Areas for future study are discussed, including research on various ways to assess and incorporate into risk assessment personality traits related to violence.
University of Massachusetts Medical School, Rm S7-823, Worcester, MA 01655, USA. laura.guy@umassmed.edu
Laura S
LS
Guy
Kevin S
KS
Douglas
Melissa C
MC
Hendry
D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D028642:Persons with Psychiatric Disorders / Q000145:classification*; D010552:Personality Assessment / Q000592:standards; D011594:Psychometrics; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D014754:Violence / Q000145:classification* / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*