Temperament traits and psychopathy in a group of patients with antisocial personality disorder
Comprehensive Psychiatry, 03/22/2011
Clinical Article
Basoglu C et al. – The results showed that both PCL-R Factor 1 score, which is claimed to reflect “core psychopathy,” and PCL-R Factor 2 score, which reflects criminal behaviors, were positively correlated with Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance and were negatively correlated with Reward Dependence in the whole sample. The reduced variance of PCL-R in each group might lead to nonsignificant associations within groups. Without the subjects with severe psychopathy in the present study, it might not be possible to show the association.
Methods- PCL-R Factor scores and TCI temperament and character scores evaluated
- 68 men with ASPD
- 65 healthy male controls
- ASPD cases had significantly higher PCL-R Factor 1, Factor 2, and Total scores, as well as significantly higher TCI Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance scores, whereas the control group had higher TCI Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self-Directedness, and Cooperativeness scores
- Correlation analysis revealed that, in whole study group, PCL-R Factor 1, Factor 2, and Total scores positively correlated with Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance scores and negatively correlated with Reward Dependence, Persistence, Self-Directedness, and Cooperativeness scores
- When each group analyzed separately, correlations insignificant
- Regression analysis supported main findings
