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Psyc337 - Psychopsthology > ASPD > Flashcards

ASPD Flashcards

1
Q

True or false: psychopathy is not in the DSM as an official diagnosis

A

True

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2
Q

Who described psychopathy in the 1940s

A

Cleckley

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3
Q

According to Cleckley, how was psychopathy conceptualized

A

Behavioural features: impulsivity, antisocial behaviour, sexual deviancy and irresponsibility
Affective and interpersonal traits: egocentricity, superficial charm, lack of empathy

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4
Q

The DSM-3 was the first DSM to include Antisocial Personality Disorder. What was and was not emphasized

A

Strong emphasis on objectively measured behavioural criteria to improve diagnostic reliability
Affective and interpersonal traits were not included as a criteria

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5
Q

What is criterion A of ASPD

A

A pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others, occurring since age 15 as indicated by 3 or more of the 7 symptoms

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6
Q

What are the 7 symptoms that someone with ASPD may present with

A
  1. Failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviours
  2. Deceitfulness
  3. Impulsivity or failure to plan ahead
  4. Irritability and aggressiveness
  5. Reckless disregard for safety of self or other
  6. Consistent irresponsibility
  7. Lack of remorse
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7
Q

True or false: The presentation of ASPD varies largely

A

True

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8
Q

True or false: Many people with ASPD are incarcerated

A

True

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9
Q

What are the 4 main characteristics of conduct disorder

A

Aggression to people and animals
Destruction of property
Deceitfulness or theft
Serious violations of rules

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10
Q

True or false: Conduct disorder is more common than ASPD and psychopathy but you don’t need it for a diagnosis of ASPD

A

False; it is more common and you need it for a diagnosis of ASPD

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11
Q

What are the 2 main specifiers of conduct disorder

A

Childhood-onset type (prior to age 10)
Adolescent-onset type (no symptoms prior to 10)

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12
Q

What are some specifiers of conduct disorder

A

With limited prosocial emotions: lack of remorse or guilt, callous-lack of empathy, unconcerned about performance, shallow or deficient affect (they’re putting on a show because they know what the emotion looks like and they want to play the part)

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13
Q

True or false: psychopathy is the same as ASPD

A

False

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14
Q

Cleckley advanced the view that psychopaths appear _____ on the surface but under the mask is a very _____, very ______ deficit

A

Normal; fundamental; severe

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15
Q

In his book the mask of sanity, was Cleckley’s focus more psychological or behavioural

A

Psychological

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16
Q

True or false: criminal behaviour paints the whole picture of psychopathy

A

False, it’s only one piece

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17
Q

How many criteria did Cleckley posit for psychopathy

A

16

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18
Q

Who put forward the psychopathy checklist (PCL or PCL-R)

A

Robert Hare

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19
Q

What is the PCL/PCL-R

A

20 item checklist that is rated via interview and whatever records are available (school, police, prison) which is used widely in North America often used to make parole decisions

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20
Q

What is one concept of psychopathy that was put forward by Cleckley and also emphasized by Hare

A

Not all psychopaths are criminal

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21
Q

In which field are psychopathy traits desirable

A

Business

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22
Q

What does factor 1 on the PCL-R look like

A

Factor 1: emotional/interpersonal features
- charm, grandiosity, lying, manipulation, lack of remorse, shallow emotional depth, low empathy

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23
Q

What is the threshold score on the PCL-R to be considered a psychopath

A

30

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24
Q

What does factor 2 look like on the PCL-R

A

Factor 2: Behavioural deviance
- child behaviour problems, juvenile delinquency, intolerance of boredom and impulsivity, violent behaviour

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25
If someone tells you “this guy i know always seems to be calculating behind his eyes in a way to get what he wants” would you interpret this as factor 1 or factor 2 of the PCL-R
Factor 1
26
In a sample of prison inmates, 70-80% qualified for an ASPD diagnosis and 25-30% met criteria for psychopathy. What differentiated the 2 groups
ASPD misses non-criminal psychopathy ASPD individuals show more affective/interpersonal features but fewer antisocial behaviours, and are rarely criminalized Those with psychopathy make more severe offences and are more likely to re-offend
27
True or false: psychopathy is the single best predictor of violence and recidivism among the prison population
True
28
Psychopaths are about ____ more likely to reoffend and reoffend violently than other prisoners
4x
29
ASDP and psychopathy are most likely to be comorbid with _____ spectrum disorders
Externalizing
30
True or false: reports in the prevalence of ASPD suggest between 0.2 and 3% for males and females in the general population but there are conflicting reports about gender differences
True
31
Rates of ASPD are higher in _______ and _______ settings
Criminal; hospital
32
Although no epidemiological studies have been done to estimate the prevalence of psychopathy, what can we say
Tend to be difficult to measure in the community Hare estimates about 1% in North America Over-represented in prison settings - especially in maximum security prisons Female inmate samples: 9-31% (huge range)
33
In what direction is the magnitude of the startle reflex when the organism is fearful
Increased When in a heightened state, the startle response is bigger
34
In what direction is the magnitude of the startle reflex if the organism is not in a heightened state and is “feeling good”
Decreased
35
What is a startle reflex
A defensive response like the eye blink in humans
36
What is the neural circuitry of the startle if we start with fear conditioning/shock sensitization
Amygdala, nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis (RPC), spinal & facial motor neurons, startle reflex
37
What is the neural circuitry of the startle response if we start from an abrupt noise
Cochlear root neurons, nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis (RPC), spinal & facial motor neurons, startle reflex
38
What can we gloabally say about the neural circuitry of the the startle response
It is rapid, not intermediary brain areas
39
In terms of the neural circuitry of the startle, lesions ____ FPS and electrical stimulation ____ the startle reflex
Block; enhances
40
How is the startle response measured in humans
A “startle probe” (a burst of white noise) is presented over headphones and an eye blink response is indexed by recording electrical activity in the orbicularis oculi muscle
41
A study was done by Vrana, Spence & Lang 1988 that showed 36 slides (12 pleasant, 12 neutral and 12 unpleasant), 6 seconds presentation with 16-24 seconds ITI, 9 unpredictable probe presentations within valence and 9 ITI startles. What is a normative response that we would expect to see
An increase in anxious individuals while anticipation
42
In a follow-up study to the Vrana et al. (1988) study, what did Patrick, Brady & Lang (1993) find
Non-psychopaths, pure antisocial and psychopaths did not differ in self-report of emotional response to the slides Psychopaths did not display the typical potentiation of startle to the negatively valenced slides which shows an affective deficit
43
What are some pregnancy and brith factors than can lead to the development of ASPD
Low birth weight Malnutrition (possible protein deficiency) during pregnancy Lead poisoning Mother’s use of nicotine, marijuana and other substances Maternal alcohol use
44
Although no direct causal link between pregnancy/birth factors and conduct problems has been established, what is one risk factor that has robustly been associated with an increase in conduct problems
Smoking during pregnancy - affecting birthweight and altering neurotransmitter systems
45
In ASPD, the r(Mz) is greater than r(Dz) suggesting that ….
There is a genetic contribution to ASPD and familial aggregation
46
What are 3 genetic pathways that might help explain the strength of genetic contributions in the etiology of ASPD
1. Genes lead to difficult temperament, impulsivity, tendency to seek rewards, and insensitivity to punishment 2. Genes may moderate susceptibility to environmental risk factors 3. Genes increase the likelihood of child’s exposure to environmental risk factors
47
What is one gene that is potentially associated with ASPD
MAOA gene
48
What does the MAOA gene do
Degrades amine neurotransmitters: dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin
49
More MAOA results in ____ degradation therefor ____ levels of amine neurotransmitters. Which can lead to disorders like ___
More; lower; MDD
50
Less MAOA results in ____ degradation therefor ____ levels of amine neurotransmitters. Which can lead to disorders of ______
Less; higher; aggression and impulsivity
51
How could the MAOA gene be seen as a diathesis
MAOA may be a vulnerability marker since child maltreatment is a robust risk factor for conduct problems but most children who are maltreated do not go on to engage in significant criminal behaviours in adulthood. There would then be a different susceptibility to the experience of maltreatment
52
Children with low MAOA activity and severe childhood maltreatment will have the highest _______ to developing ASPD demonstrating a gene-environment ______
Susceptibility; interaction
53
True or false: in studies that have been done looking at levels of MAOA and childhood maltreatment, we can see a main effect of childhood maltreatment and a gene-environment interaction
True
54
True or false: abused or maltreated kids go on to have higher PCL-R scores and report a more negative upbringing but it is at the same time difficult to separate genetics from parenting demonstrating a gene-environment correlation
True
55
56
Parents often lack _______ resources to cope with difficult children demonstrating ______
Psychological/physical; inconsistent disciplinarians
57
What are the consequences of antisocial individuals wanting to associate with similar others
They miss opportunities to learn positive and pro-social behaviours Early criminality and drug use can eliminate future opportunities
58
There is a potential GxE with ASPD. An adoption study was done where children of biological parents with ASPD were adopted away. What did they find
Main effect: adopted children of biological parents with ASPD were more likely to develop antisocial traits BUT the interaction shows that they were even more likely to develop ASPD if they were also exposed to an adverse environment
59
How can societal influences cause ASPD, what are the mechanisms
Poverty and neighbourhood crime related to delinquency Mechanisms - social cause: living in poverty increases rates of delinquency - social selection hypothesis: people with psychopathy drift down to poverty - work with children indicates causal association between poverty and disrupts behaviour, with parent supervision as the mediator
60
How can cultural factors be a cause of ASPD
Socialization of children for aggression is one of the strongest predictors of aggressive acts - Liberian child soldiers Rates of antisocial behaviour vary widely across and within cultures Antisocial behaviour is associated with minority status in NA but likely due to low SES
61
62
Why is treatment of ASPD very challenging
It’s very difficult to get people into treatment, they are usually mandated by the court since they experience little distress and have little motivation to change
63
True or false: psychotherapy and treatment with SSRIs has shown the strongest evidence for treating ASPD
False: there has been weak evidence for both
64
Why are some treatments effective in reducing the rates of reoffending among criminal offenders while increasing the rates of reoffending in psychopaths
Treatments that emphasize training in social skills and empathy can be useful in helping psychopaths become even more charming and become better at coning future victims
65
Liberia’s two civil wars killed 10% of the population, the majority of the population was displaced and tens of thousands were recruited into combat. Now they are at peace but the economy is suffering and unemployment is high. What are the consequences of this?
The ex-combatants are poorly integrated which is a concern Often involved in drugs, crime, high levels of political violence and recruited as mercenaries in other civil wars in the area
66
Christopher Blattman, Julian Jamison and Margaret Sheridan recruited 999 high-risk men from Monrovia who were homeless, drug-using, and present in neighbourhoods known for crime, armed recruitment and violence. They were in the bottom 10th percentile for income, average 8 years of education and earned 68$ per month. They underwent the Sustainable Transformation of Youth in Liberia (STYL) which is an 8 week program of group cognitive therapy that taught them skills of self-control and shift their self-image from outcast to normal society member. They were randomly assigned to the CBT-only, cash-only, CBT-plus cash or neither. What were the results of the study
The main areas that people were spending money on were pro-social ways to help them get back on their feet like living expenses, business investments and saving/debt payments. Cash did not keep these people high over time, higher income was not sustained CBT-plus cash was the only condition that showed a persistent amelioration in these people
67
In the Christopher Blattman, Julian Jamison and Margaret Sheridan study what were the mechanisms of change
When interviewed at baseline, many felt ostracized and reported that the therapy pushed them to believe that they could be someone better for the first time There was a change in beliefs and behaviours but they were also given material opportunities in which to make these changes possible They had arenas that allowed them to exercise the skills they learnt in therapy They are able to now perform their imagined self

Psyc337 - Psychopsthology (18 decks)

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