ASPD & Pscyhopathy Flashcards
Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), general
Most common personality disorder
Pervasive, long-standing, disregard for others
Blames others, or external circumstances, for own mistakes/behaviors
Impulsive
Irresponsible
Lack of motivation to plan ahead
Quick to respond with anger/frustration
Deceitful/manipulative
Inability to follow approved models of behavior
Lack of remorse
*Shallow affect
History of conduct disorder from childhood
MS: DSM dx lacks important feature of egocentrism
“early starter”
Kolko research:
Histories of conduct, ADHD, and ODD (usually combined) as “early starters” for antisocial personality disorder
Though new research shows ODD possibly being a standalone with its own developmental path
Psychopathy Checklist (PCL)
Semi-structured tool that uses clinical history to rate 20 items that generate, initially over two factors, but later expanded to for factors in the 1990s
Scale 0-40 estimate degree of match with a prototypical psychopath
Long-term Traits
1a) Interpersonal Dimension
1b) Affective Dimension
More similar to ASPD dx
2a) Lifestyle Dimension
2b) Antisocial Dimension
Many prisoners, (~70%) demonstrate symptoms of ASPD
But fewer, using the PCL, are diagnosed with psychopathy (20-30%)
Criminality; ASPD; Psychopathy
All share common factors
PCL 1a: Interpersonal Dimension
Superficial charm
Grandiose self-worth
Pathological lying
Manipulating others
PCL 1b) Affective Dimension
Lack of remorse/guilt
Cold, callous, attitude
Lack of empathy
Shallow affect
Failure to accept responsibility
PCL 2a) Lifestyle Dimension
Need for stimulation
Impulsive
Lack of reasonable long-term goals
Parasitic lifestyle
Tendency to become easily bored
Irresponsible
PCL 2b) Antisocial Dimension
Poor behavioral control
Criminality
Early behavioral problems
Delinquency
Robert Hare
Disagreed with ASPD definition in the DSM
Provided a definition for “psychopathy”
Added features to ASPD dx that more closely resembled Cleckley’s definition
Selfishness
Manipulation
Lack of remorse
Deceitful
MS: most who meet criteria for psychopathy meet criteria for ASPD, not necessarily vice versa
Cleckley’s “Mask of Sanity” 1941
Provided the first diagnostic criteria for psychopathy
Violators of norms, but superficial charm
Social skills are more developed than conscience
Psychopathy characterized by
ABSENCE OF:
delusions
nervousness
reliability
truthfulness
shame
capacity to form loving relationships
insight
responsibility in relationships
ability to form attachments
proper motivation for antisocial behavior
valid judgement
ability to learn
fully developed emotions
DSM Section 3, Proposed Criteria
A subtype of ASPD is available that focuses more on the psychopathic traits
This is the diagnosis that most closely resembles psychopathy
The DSM-5 fails to capture the ego-centric symptoms of ASPD
Genetics
Vitting (2005)
callous, unemotinal, highly heritable
~40-50% genetic
Early signs of callous behavior is apparent in twins
Alteration in fear
Low levels of fear
Poor conditioning to fear
Linked with decreased amygdala functioning
Those with these disorders do not learn via fear no (most cases of) positive reinforcement
*however, reinforcing via payment tends to work
Decreased physiological arousal
Decreased skin response, basal heart rates, and blood pressure
Almost no startle response
Chronic understimulation may explain the increased chance of these individuals in engaging in risky behaviors
- possible tied to smoking during pregnancy
- study showed lower resting HR predicts psychopathy
Violent Recidivism
Antisocial behavior in the past is the strongest predictor of violent behavior, in general, across all disorders, in the future ~80%
~10% of recidivism can be explained by intermittent explosive disorder
Family risk factors
Parent loss
Parental rejection
Authoritarian parenting style
But must recognize the bidirectional function between child behavior and parenting style/behavior
