Is the psychopathic personality set at the age of 30? Stability of psychopathic traits in adulthood.

• In Event: Longitudinal and Life Course Perspectives on the Development of Psychopathy and Antisocial Behaviour

Abstract

While stability is arguably most important in childhood and adolescence to ensure the validity of the psychopathy construct during these developmental periods, stability in adulthood is also relevant to the construct. Many of the same arguments outlined by Seagrave and Grisso (2002) can be applied to adults. The current study aims to investigate the rank order, mean level, and individual level stability of psychopathic traits from the approximate age of 21 to 48 across three assessment waves (age 21, 32, and 48). Data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development (CSDD) will be coded at age 21 and 32 using the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (Hart et al., 1995). PCL:SV scores at age 48 is already available in the data. It is hypothesized that the traits will be less stable in the 20s compared to the 30s and 40s. Implications for theory generation and rehabilitation will be discussed.

Authors

• Henriette Bergstrøm, University of Derby

• David P. Farrington, Cambridge University