A comparison of methods for assessing sociopathy in male and female alcoholics

Abstract

This study compared four methods for assessing sociopathy in alcoholics. A total of 79 male and 39 female inpatient alcoholics were administered the following scales: (1) the NIMH Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) which provides a DSM-III diagnosis of antisocial personality disorder (APD) and an antisocial symptom count; (2) the Hare Psychopathy Checklist; (3) the Socialization scale from the California Psychological Inventory (CPI-So); and (4) the MMPI-168 Psychopathic Deviate (Pd) scale. Factor analysis for the four continuous measures (DIS symptom count, Hare, CPI-So, MMPI-168 Pd) resulted in a one factor solution, implying that all four scales measure a single underlying construct. The CPI-So had the highest loading, indicating that this measure has the strongest degree of association with the underlying construct of sociopathy. Results of a discriminant function analysis indicated that only the CPI-So reliably discriminated between alcoholics diagnosed APD and non-APD by the DIS. These findings indicate that CPI-So is a valid and easily administered continuous measure of sociopathy in alcoholic patients.