title: Self-esteem and styles of coping with stress versus strategies of planning in people with psychopathic personality disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Psychopathy is a notion that has been difficult to define. The operational definition of psychopathy by Hare is one of the most commonly used in psychology and it is usually identified with the scale used to measure this type of personality, which is the Psychopathy Checklist - Revision (PCL-R). PCL-R is composed of two factors: Factor 1 describes a constellation of psychopathic traits considered by many clinicians to be basic for this type of personality, and Factor 2 describes types of behaviour indicating impulsiveness, lack of stability and antisocial lifestyle. The aim of the research was to verify a hypothesis that people with psychopathic personality disorders are characterised by high self-esteem, unconstructive strategies of planning actions and non-adaptive styles of coping with stress.
  
  
  METHODS
  The group of participants included 30 people at the age of 22-36 convicted with a legally binding sentence. Methods were: 1. The Psychopathy Checklist-Revision (PCL-R); 2. Antisocial Personality Questionnaire (APQ); 3. Coping Inventory for Stressful Situations (CISS); 4. Generalised Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The participants were diagnosed as psychopaths (PCL-R), and more specifically - as primary psychopaths (APQ). They revealed a grandiose sense of self-worth, increased self-control, impulsive style of functioning, perceived high self-efficacy (which might be considered as a defence mechanism). Psychopaths prefer a coping style focused on emotions and avoidance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The hypothesis was confirmed, that people with psychopathic personality disorders are characterised by high self-esteem, unconstructive strategies of planning actions and non-adaptive styles of coping with stress.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland. psybpw@univ.gda.pl
authors.forename: Beata
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pastwa-Wojciechowska
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaźmierczak
authors.forename: Magdalena
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Błażek
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D012649:Self Concept; D013315:Stress, Psychological