Antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy: The AMPD in review

Abstract

The current review examines the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) alternative model for personality disorders' (AMPD) operationalization of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), particularly as it relates to the construct of psychopathy. We review the available literature on the AMPD conceptualization of ASPD, its potential improvement over previous versions of the DSM, and its relationship to established measures of psychopathy. In addition, we review the literature on the AMPD's psychopathy specifier, including its utility in differentiating between ASPD and psychopathy. We provide a critical commentary for what these findings mean moving forward and discuss areas for future research direction. We argue that the DSM-5 conceptualization of ASPD is a vast improvement over previous iterations of the diagnosis; however, we discuss potential limitations and disagreements that could arise in its overlap with the construct of psychopathy. Finally, we argue that work moving forward should focus more broadly on dimensional traits and their prediction of outcomes, rather than continuing to seek diagnostic accuracy in conceptualizing ASPD and/or psychopathy and that the AMPD provides a good framework for this work. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).