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Two subtypes of psychopathic criminals differ in negative affect and history of childhood abuse.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVE:Specification of the etiological mechanisms underlying psychopathy is a key step in developing more effective methods for preventing and remediating the callous and impulsive behavior that characterizes the disorder. Theoretical conceptualizations of psychopathic subtypes propose that a primary variant largely stems from impoverished affect, whereas a secondary variant is hypothesized to develop subsequent to adverse environmental experiences (e.g., childhood maltreatment). However, there has been a dearth of research demonstrating that psychopathic subtypes actually differ in terms of experienced childhood maltreatment in an adult offender population. METHOD:The current study employed model-based cluster analysis (MBCA) in a sample of incarcerated, psychopathic males (n = 110) to identify subtypes of psychopathic offenders based on a broad personality assessment. RESULTS:Two subgroups emerged: 1 with high levels of negative affect (high-NA) and 1 with low levels of negative affect (low-NA). The high-NA subgroup scored significantly higher on measures of childhood maltreatment. CONCLUSION:These results provide support for theoretical conceptualizations of psychopathic subtypes, suggesting that psychopathic offenders with high levels of negative affect experience a greater degree of childhood maltreatment. (PsycINFO Database Record

SUBMITTER: Dargis M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5902659 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Two subtypes of psychopathic criminals differ in negative affect and history of childhood abuse.

Dargis Monika M Koenigs Michael M

Psychological trauma : theory, research, practice and policy 20171016 4

<h4>Objective</h4>Specification of the etiological mechanisms underlying psychopathy is a key step in developing more effective methods for preventing and remediating the callous and impulsive behavior that characterizes the disorder. Theoretical conceptualizations of psychopathic subtypes propose that a primary variant largely stems from impoverished affect, whereas a secondary variant is hypothesized to develop subsequent to adverse environmental experiences (e.g., childhood maltreatment). How ...[more]

PMID: 29035064

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Project description:Although limited, the literature suggests alterations in activation of cognitive control regions in adults and adolescents with a history of childhood abuse. The current study examined whether such alterations are increased in the face of emotionally-distracting as compared to emotionally neutral information, and whether such alterations occur in brain regions that exert cognitive control in a more top-down sustained manner or a more bottom-up transient manner.Participants were young adult women (ages 23-30): one group with a history of childhood physical or sexual abuse (N = 15) and one with no trauma exposure (N = 17), as assessed through the Trauma History Questionnaire and a two-stage interview adapted from the National Crime Victims Survey. Participants underwent fMRI scanning while completing hybrid block/event-related versions of a classic color-word and an emotional Stroop paradigm (threat and positive words). This paradigm allowed us to examine both sustained (activation persisting across blocks) and transient (event-specific activation) aspects of cognitive control.Women with a history of childhood abuse demonstrated decreased recruitment of frontal-parietal regions involved in cognitive control and enhanced recruitment of a ventral attention surveillance network during blocks of both versions of the Stroop task. Additionally, they had less suppression of brain regions involved in self-referential processes for threat blocks, but greater suppression of these regions for positive blocks. Severity of avoidance symptoms was associated with sustained activation in lateral prefrontal regions, whereas hyperarousal/re-experiencing symptoms were associated with sustained activity in temporal regions. No differential effects were observed for transient control.Results suggest exposure to childhood abuse is associated with blunted recruitment of brain regions supporting task-set maintenance but hypervigilance for task-irrelevant information, regardless of whether distractors are emotionally neutral or emotional. Exposure to childhood abuse is also associated with less suppression of default mode brain regions associated with self-referential processing in the face of irrelevant threat information, but heightened ability to suppress similar processing for irrelevant positive information.

Project description:BackgroundEvidence relating maternal history of abuse before pregnancy with pregnancy outcomes is controversial. This study aims to examine the association between maternal histories of abuse before pregnancy and the risk of preterm delivery and low birth weight.MethodsWe searched Subject Headings and keywords for exposure and the outcomes through MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Psycinfo, CINAHL, Scopus, PILOTS, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global and Web of Science Core Collection in April 2017. We selected original studies that reported associations between maternal histories of abuse of any type and either preterm delivery or low birth weight. Studies that included interventions during pregnancy to lower maternal stress but reported no control data were excluded. We utilized the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scales for observational studies to assess the risk of bias in the primary studies. Two independent reviewers performed the selection of pertinent studies, assessment of risk of bias, and data extraction. Unadjusted pooled odds ratios (OR) with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) were calculated for the two outcomes of preterm delivery and low birth weight in 16 included studies.ResultsMaternal history of abuse before pregnancy was significantly associated with preterm delivery (OR 1.28, 95% CI: 1.12-1.47) and low birth weight (OR 1.35, 95% CI: 1.14-1.59). A substantial level of heterogeneity was detected within the two groups of studies reporting preterm birth and low birth weight (I2 =?75% and 69% respectively). Subgroup analysis based on the specific time of abuse before pregnancy indicated that childhood abuse increases the risk of low birth weight by 57% (95% CI: 0.99-2.49). When the included studies were categorized based on study design, cohort studies showed the highest effect estimates on preterm delivery and low birth weight (OR: 1.69, 95%CI: 1.19-2.40, OR: 1.56, 95% CI: 1.06-2.3, respectively).ConclusionsWe recommend that more high quality research studies on this topic are necessary to strengthen the inference. At the practice level, we suggest more attention in detecting maternal history of abuse before pregnancy during antenatal visits and using this information to inform risk assessment for adverse pregnancy outcomes.Trial registrationRegistration number: PROSPERO ( CRD42016033231 ).

Project description:As they age, people living with HIV (PLWH) experience greater rates of inflammation-related health conditions compared to their HIV-negative peers. Because early life adversity can exaggerate proinflammatory effects of later physiological challenges, inflammation may be higher among PLWH with these combined risks, which could inform intervention approaches to mitigate multimorbidity. In this cross-sectional analysis, we investigated individual and combined effects of childhood sexual abuse (CSA) history and physiological burden (Veterans Aging Cohort Study Index scores) on serum cytokine and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels among PLWH. Participants (n = 131; age 54 and older) were patients at an outpatient HIV clinic who completed a psychosocial survey and biomedical research visit as part of a larger study. 93% were virally suppressed, and 40% reported experiencing sexual abuse in childhood. Composite cytokine levels (summarizing IL-6, TNF-α, IFN-γ), CRP, and disease burden did not differ significantly between those who had a history of CSA and those who did not. Participants with greater disease burden had higher composite cytokine levels (r = 0.29, p = 0.001). The disease burden by CSA interaction effect was a significant predictor of composite cytokine levels (but not CRP), and remained significant after controlling for age, sex, race, BMI, anti-inflammatory medication use, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor use, depressive symptoms, and smoking status (F(1, 114) = 5.68, p = 0.02). In follow-up simple slopes analysis, greater disease burden was associated with higher cytokine levels among those with CSA history (b = 0.03, SE = 0.008, p<0.001), but not among those without CSA history. Further, in the context of greater disease burden, individuals with a CSA history tended to have higher cytokine levels than those without a CSA history (b = 0.38, SE = 0.21, p = 0.07). These data suggest that the physiological sequelae of childhood trauma may persist into older age among those with HIV. Specifically, links between physiological burden and inflammation were stronger among survivors of CSA in this study. The combined presence of CSA history and higher disease burden may signal a greater need for and potential benefit from interventions to reduce inflammation, an area for future work.

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Two subtypes of psychopathic criminals differ in negative affect and history of childhood abuse.

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Two subtypes of psychopathic criminals differ in negative affect and history of childhood abuse.

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