Using Latent Variable- and Person-Centered Approaches to Examine the Role of Psychopathic Traits in Sex Offenders

• NCJ Number: 253300
• Author(s): Sonja Krstic; Craig S. Neumann; Roy Sandeep; Carrie A. Robertson; Raymond A. Knight; Robert D. Hare
• Date Published: 2018
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 94-IJ-CX-0031; 94-IJ-CX-0049
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description

Annotation

This study used both latent variable- and person-centered approaches to examine psychopathic traits in a large sample of sex offenders (N = 958).

Abstract

The offenders, who had committed a range of sexual crimes, had been assessed with the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 2003). Structural equation modeling results indicated that the four-factor model of psychopathy (Hare, 2003; Neumann, Hare, & Newman, 2007) provided good representation of the dimensional nature of psychopathic traits across the sample of offenders, and that the PCL-R factors significantly predicted sexual crimes. In particular, the Affective and Antisocial psychopathy factors each predicted sexually violent crimes. Latent profile analysis results revealed evidence of a four-class solution, with the subtypes showing distinct PCL-R facet profiles consistent with previous research. The four subtypes were validated using sexual crime profiles. The prototypic psychopathy subtype (high on all four PCL-R facets) evidenced more violent sexual offenses than did the other subtypes. Taken together, the results demonstrate how variable- and person-centered approaches in combination can add to the understanding of the psychopathy construct and its correlates. (publisher abstract modified)