Using the PCL-R to help estimate the validity of two self-report measures of psychopathy with offenders (2010)

Abstract

Two self-report measures of psychopathy, Levenson’s Primary and Secondary Psychopathy scales (LPSP) and the Psychopathic Personality Inventory (PPI), were administered to a large sample of 1,603 offenders. The most widely researched measure of criminal psychopathy, the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), served as a provisional referent for estimating the construct validity of these self-report measures with offenders. Compared with the LPSP, the PPI displayed higher zero-order correlations with the PCL-R, better convergent and discriminant validity, and more consistent incremental utility in predicting PCL-R scores. Furthermore, using a variant of Westen and Rosenthal’s approach to evaluating the construct validity of a new measure, compared with the LPSP, the PPI’s pattern of associations with measures of 35 external criterion variables was more similar to the pattern observed for the PCL-R. Results generally provide stronger support for the validity of the PPI than the LPSP in offender populations using the PCL-R as a provisional benchmark, particularly for assessing interpersonal and affective features of psychopathy.

Poythress, N., Lilienfeld, S., Skeem, J., Douglas, K., Edens, J., & Epstein, M. (2010).  Using the PCL-R to help estimate the validity of two self-report measures of psychopathy.  Assessment, 17, 206-219. doi:10.1177/1073191109351715