Psychopathy and substance use in relation to prostitution and pimping among women offenders.

Abstract

Much research exists examining sex work in relation to substance use and other physical health risks. However, there is a paucity of research exploring person-level characteristics, such as pathological personality traits, in relation to sex work. This study used a large sample of incarcerated women (n = 310) to address 2 aims involving prostitution and pimping. The first aim was an attempt to replicate and generalize previous findings from Edwards and Verona (2016) on associations among psychopathic traits, substance use, and prostitution. The second aim explored relationships among substance use, psychopathic traits, and pimping. Psychopathy and substance use were measured using the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised and a modified version of the Addiction Severity Index, respectively. Prostitution and pimping were coded through institutional file review and self-report. Results replicated those of the study by Edwards and Verona (2016), such that psychopathy, and impulsive–antisocial traits specifically, positively related to prostitution above substance use. Results for the second aim showed that PCL-R total and impulsive–antisocial traits were also related to pimping, above the influence of substance use. Substance use was also higher in women who engaged in pimping versus those who did not. Results indicate that substance use and impulsive–antisocial traits of psychopathy are independently related to engagement in distinct roles across sex work contexts among incarcerated women.

Psychopathic traits in the context of paid erotic services and sex exchange among college students.

“…Consistent with prior work (Edwards & Verona, 2016; Edwards et al, 2020), impulsive-antisocial (but not interpersonal-affective) traits were associated with noncontact erotic service provision above and beyond substance use and thus appear to contribute unique variance to provision of services among students. Considering this, results from this study and others (Edwards & Verona, 2016; Edwards et al, 2020) point to unique features of impulsive-antisocial traits (opposed to shared vulnerabilities with substance use) as important in understanding provision across erotic services. For instance, some students prone to impulsivity and/or irresponsibility may be more apt to experience financial strain due to difficulties maintaining stable employment.…”

“…Psychopathic traits (e.g., deceit, callousness, impulsivity) have been examined in a few studies as one maladaptive personality correlate of sex work, given that more involved forms of erotic services attract persons high on thrill-seeking and sometimes include illegal behavior (Hare, 2003; O’Sullivan et al, 1996). Engagement in sex exchange in particular (i.e., exchanging sex for money, drugs or material goods; Harcourt & Donovan, 2005) has been said to reflect one manifestation of impulsive-antisocial traits (e.g., recklessness, delinquency), particularly in women (Edwards & Verona, 2016; Edwards et al, 2020). However, erotic services include a range of activities, and many are not risky in any traditional sense (e.g., erotic webcam).…”

Psychopathy and Risky Sexual Behavior in Incarcerated Women

“…To our knowledge, no previous studies have associated PCL-R Facet 4 scores with RSB variables. While significant associations have been observed between PCL-R Factor 2 scores (assessing lifestyle and antisocial psychopathic traits) and RSB (e.g., prostitution history; Edwards et al, 2021) among women, this previous study did not investigate whether PCL-R facet scores were significantly associated with this RSB measure. As reported in the Supplemental Materials, PCL-R Factor 2 scores were also associated with an increased frequency of engaging in sexual intercourse while intoxicated.…”

“…Specifically, those with elevated psychopathic traits report a higher number of lifetime sexual partners (Fulton et al, 2010;Jonason et al, 2009;Reynolds et al, 2020;Visser et al, 2010) and are more likely forgo protection, including condom usage, during sexual intercourse (Fulton et al, 2010;Reynolds et al, 2020). However, previous studies that have included women in analyses have either only focused on one specific measure of RSB (e.g., the number of lifetime sexual partners reported (Jonason et al, 2009;Visser et al, 2010) or prostitution history [Edwards et al, 2021]) or have investigated multiple forms of RSB under one single, unitary construct (i.e., SRS total scores; Fulton et al, 2010Fulton et al, , 2014. Therefore, the current study was performed to improve our understanding regarding the association between psychopathic traits and multiple forms of RSB in a sample of incarcerated women.…”

“…We specifically hypothesized that PCL-R Facet 3 (assessing lifestyle psychopathic traits) and Facet 4 (measuring antisocial psychopathic traits) scores would be associated with measures of lifetime RSB (e.g., a higher number of lifetime sexual partners reported, increased frequency of engaging in sexual intercourse while intoxicated, and an increased frequency of forgoing protection during sexual intercourse), via correlation and hierarchical linear regression analyses. We hypothesized these specific facet scores would be associated with RSB measures, as previous studies among women suggest that PPI IA/SCI factor scores (Fulton et al, 2010(Fulton et al, , 2014 and PCL-R Factor 2 scores (Edwards et al, 2021) are associated with RSB measures (e.g., SRS total scores and history of prostitution, respectively). In addition, we hypothesized that PCL-R Facet 1 and 2 scores, assessing interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits, would not be associated with RSB measures in correlation and hierarchical linear regression analyses, as these scores have not been previously associated with increased risk-taking behavior (Hosker-Field et al, 2016).…”