Diagnostic validity of antisocial personality disorder

Competing models of antisocial personality disorder have important consequences for mentally disordered offenders and their management in the criminal justice system. In order to provide a fresh perspective on these enduring diagnostic problems, we conducted a prototypical analysis on 250 adult subjects' perceptions of psychopathy from a set of criteria, which included DSM-II, DSM-III, DSM-III-R, and Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) scores. Through principal components analysis we identified four factors: (a) impaired relationships and deception, (b) aggressive behavior, (c) nonviolent delinquency, and (d) frequent sexual relationships not attributable to mental illness/substance abuse. These factors appear to be more closely allied with PCL and two new proposals for DSM-IV than the current DSM-III-R model.We appreciate the efforts of David Di Giuseppe and Ireneusz Celejewski in data entry and management as well as the cooperation of the Ontario Science Centre in making this study possible.