Authors
Jennifer Skeem, Peter Johansson, Henrik Andershed, Margaret Kerr, Jennifer Eno Louden
Publication date
2007/5
Journal
Journal of abnormal psychology
Volume
116
Issue
2
Pages
395
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Description
Although psychopathy usually is treated as a unitary construct, a seminal theory posits that there are 2 variants: Primary psychopathy is underpinned by an inherited affective deficit, whereas secondary psychopathy reflects an acquired affective disturbance. The authors investigated whether psychopathy phenotypically may be disaggregated into such types in a sample of 367 prison inmates convicted of violent crimes. Model-based cluster analysis of the Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL–R; RD Hare, 2003) and trait anxiety scores in the psychopathic subgroup (n= 123; PCL–R≥ 29) revealed 2 clusters. Relative to primary psychopaths, secondary psychopaths had greater trait anxiety, fewer psychopathic traits, and comparable levels of antisocial behavior. Across validation variables, secondary psychopaths manifested more borderline personality features, poorer interpersonal functioning (eg, irritability …
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J Skeem, P Johansson, H Andershed, M Kerr… - Journal of abnormal psychology, 2007