Aligning the assessment of psychopathy with DSM-V and ICD-11
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Aligning the assessment of psychopathy with DSM-V and ICD-11: Investigating associations with self-reported ICD-11 personality disorder severity and DSM-V level of personality functioning across clinical and community samples
IRAS ID
288323
Contact name
Michael Lewis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ashworth High Secure Hospital - Merseycare NHS Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 0 days
Research summary
Psychopathy has established its prominence as an identifier for « dangerous » offenders, while originally conceptualized as abnormal personality with small correlations to criminality. Arguably the equalization of psychopathy and criminal behavior has advanced the field of reoffending predictions, but it also moved the focus away from the conceptual understanding of psychopathy. Resulting in an abundance of literature on measurements of psychopathy and its behavioral expressions but no clear consensus on underlying traits. To date, psychopathy is neither a diagnostic entity in the DSM-5 nor in the ICD-11 and therefore not recognized as a personality disorder. The current study is undertaken to characterize how psychopathy fits within the alternative personality models in the DSM-5 and ICD-11, in order to gain insight into the core traits of psychopathy and align psychopathy assessment with the DSM-5 and ICD-11. We are hopeful that the improved knowledge gained through this research could lead to a broader understanding of psychopathy, highlight the strengths associated with psychopathy, as well as improving the treatment these individuals are receiving.
The study will recruit two samples: the clinical sample will consist of male patients recruited in multiple wards at Ashworth High Secure Hospital, UK. The community sample will comprise males and females recruited online. All participants will be asked to complete a set of self-report questionnaire measures. The completion of the questionnaires is estimated to take approximately 35 minutes per participant. The total duration of the study, including the preparation of measures, recruitment of participants, collecting, coding and analysing the data and writing up the final report (Master thesis) will be 8 months.
REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Bradford Leeds Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
21/YH/0301
Date of REC Opinion
25 Jan 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion