Abstract
Theory and empirical research suggest that psychopathy may be disaggregated into primary and secondary variants. In practice, individuals with high scores on psychopathy measures are treated as a homogenous group. In this study, interviewers recruited 355 incarcerated youth to assess potential differences in trauma history, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and dissociative symptoms among high-anxious (secondary) and low-anxious (primary) variants of psychopathy. Results indicate that youth with secondary psychopathy report a greater history of traumatic experiences and past PTSD symptoms—but not dissociative symptoms—than primary variants. These results suggest that youth with high scores on measures of psychopathy are a heterogeneous group, necessitating nuanced assessment and treatment practices.
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Tatar, J.R., Cauffman, E., Kimonis, E.R. et al. Victimization History and Posttraumatic Stress: An Analysis of Psychopathy Variants in Male Juvenile Offenders. Journ Child Adol Trauma 5, 102–113 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2012.671794
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2012.671794