title: Interpersonal and affective traits of psychopathy in child sexual abusers: evidence from a pilot study sample of Italian offenders.
abstract: It has been demonstrated that psychopathy is a crucial construct for the understanding of criminal and violent behavior. However, research on psychopathic traits among child sexual abusers is still scant. In this study, the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised was used to assess psychopathy in a group of 87 Italian, male inmates who were convicted of violent crimes. Child sexual abusers (N = 23) scored higher on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised interpersonal-affective factor compared to participants who did not perpetrate child sexual abuse. Notably, child sexual abusers showed a very high average score on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised affective dimension; furthermore, they showed high scores on the two Psychopathy Checklist-Revised items excluded from its two factors-four facets structure (i.e., the items denoting devaluation of intimate relationships). The results of this study may positively inform the development of treatment strategies for child sexual abusers.
authors.affiliation: a Kore University of Enna , Enna , Italy.
authors.forename: Adriano
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schimmenti
authors.forename: Alessia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Passanisi
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caretti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000339:Affect; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D057237:Criminals / Q000523:psychology*; D005555:Forensic Psychiatry; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011329:Prisoners; D011594:Psychometrics; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: PCL-R; child sexual abuse; personality; psychopathy; treatment; violent offenders