Effects of comorbid psychopathy on criminal offending and emotion processing in male offenders with antisocial personality disorder.

Abstract

Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and psychopathy are two syndromes with substantial construct validity. To clarify relations between these syndromes, the authors evaluated 3 possibilities: (a) that ASPD with psychopathy and ASPD without psychopathy reflect a common underlying pathophysiology; (b) that ASPD with psychopathy and ASPD without psychopathy identify 2 distinct syndromes, similar in some respects; and (c) that most correlates of ASPD reflect its comorbidity with psychopathy. Participants were 472 incarcerated European American men who met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (4th ed., American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for ASPD and Psychopathy Checklist criteria for psychopathy, who met the criteria for ASPD but not for psychopathy, or who did not meet diagnostic criteria for either ASPD or psychopathy (controls). Both individuals with ASPD only and those with ASPD and psychopathy were characterized by more criminal activity than were controls. In addition, ASPD with psychopathy was associated with more severe criminal behavior and weaker emotion facilitation than ASPD alone. Group differences in the association between emotion dysfunction and criminal behavior suggest tentatively that ASPD with and ASPD without prominent psychopathic features may be distinct syndromes.

Impaired Pavlovian conditioned inhibition in offenders with personality disorders

“…DSPD unit patients are typically characterised by the co-occurrence of high PCL-R scores and an ASPD diagnosis and, frequently, a BPD diagnosis (Howard & Duggan, 2009). This pattern of co-morbidity is associated with a significant degree of serious, in particular violent, offending (Kosson et al, 2006;Coid & Ullrich, 2010) and with high scores on a dimension of hostile impulsivity, characterised by aggression, resentment, deviance and paranoid beliefs together with affective dyscontrol (Blackburn, 2009). This may provide a further explanation of the lack of correlation between the CI deficit and the PCL-R scores taken in isolation, since it is the co-occurrence of psychopathy with ASPD (and frequently BPD as well) that characterises these deviant and disinhibited patients, rather than simply a high PCL-R score.…”

“…This condition shows clear overlap with ASPD (Blackburn & Coid, 1998;Coid & Ullrich, 2010;Hare, Hart & Harpur, 1991;Hart & Hare, 1996;Kosson, Lorenz & Newman, 2006). Moreover, DSM-IV describes features of psychopathy as 'particularly distinguishing of Antisocial Personality Disorder in prison or forensic settings' (DSM-IV, p. 647).…”

“…Such studies have also tended to use learning tasks in which outcomes can be negative, as a defining feature of impulsivity is heedless action despite aversive consequences (Cleckley, 1964;Flor, Birbaumer, Hermann, Ziegler & Patrick, 2002;Gorenstein & Newman, 1980;Kosson, Smith & Newman, 1990;Lykken, 1957;Newman, 1987;Newman, Patterson & Kosson, 1987;Newman & Schmitt, 1998;Schmauk, 1970;Thornquist & Zuckerman, 1995;Vitale & Newman, 2001). However, as discussed above, psychopathy has been argued to be on a continuum with ASPD (Blackburn & Coid, 1998;Coid & Ullrich, 2010;Kosson et al, 2006). Thus since a high proportion of the present sample were expected to be psychopathic and therefore poor at aversively motivated learning, we used a positively motivated learning task.…”

Punishment and psychopathy: a case-control functional MRI investigation of reinforcement learning in violent antisocial personality disordered men

“…3 By contrast, men who have antisocial personality disorder without psychopathy are characterised by emotional lability, mood and anxiety disorders, and reactive aggression. 4 Although the two phenotypes emerge early in life, those who develop antisocial personality disorder with psychopathy begin off ending at an earlier age, engage in a broader range and higher frequency of off ending behaviours, 4 and respond less well to treatment in childhood 5 and adulthood 6 than those without psychopathy. The two groups show distinct diff erences in brain structure 7 and functional responses to empathy-eliciting scenarios 8 and emotional stimuli when engaged in goal-directed behaviour.…”

Potential biomarkers in personality disorders: current state and future research

“…Thereby, the fact that from psychosocial vulnerability factors several biomarkers related to neuronal circuits (involved in facial asymmetries) may be derived is remarkable (Borod, et al, 1997). Particularly, the emotional deprivation that implicates a limit to the possibilities of establishing relations between affection and empathya condition that is co-related with the presence of psychopathic features -could lead to an emotional malfunction that is expressed by facial configurations that are controlled by both brain hemispheres (Birbaumer et al, 2005;Caspi et al, 2002;Dolan & Fullam, 2006;Kosson, Kosson, Lorenz, & Newman, 2006;Marsh & Blair, 2008). Corroborating this, Facial analyses show a reduction in the activation of the right brain hemisphere and the prefrontal ventromedial cortex, and a deficit in the function of the amygdala (which is associated with recognition and perception of expression of fear and sadness).…”