ABSTRACT

Research generally supports the notion that primary and secondary psychopathy variants are relatively distinct, with primary psychopathy reflecting a congenital affective deficit, and secondary psychopathy reflecting acquired affective disorders. However, little is known about how social anxiety might play in terms of the primary vs. secondary psychopathy typology. The main aim of the present study is to investigate whether the two distinct subtypes of psychopathy emerge using a social anxiety approach. The sample was composed of youth (N = 225, M = 16.72 years, SD = 1.44) from Portuguese juvenile detention centers. Results using model-based cluster analyses suggested the presence of two distinct groups of youth characterized by psychopathic traits that differed on social anxiety. Primary psychopathic youth presented a significantly more severe antisocial/criminal behavior profile, while secondary psychopathic youth reported a less severe antisocial/criminal behavior profile and higher levels of empathy when compared to a control cluster. Findings based on a social anxiety framework suggest that the two subtypes of psychopathy are relevant in terms of assessment and that the development of future preventive/treatment interventions should take into account this typology.

摘要

研究普遍支持原发性和继发性精神病变体相对不同的观点，原发性精神病反映先天性情感缺陷，继发性精神病反映获得性情感障碍。然而，关于社交焦虑如何在原发性和继发性精神病类型学方面发挥作用，我们知之甚少。本研究的主要目的是调查是否使用社交焦虑方法出现了两种不同的精神病亚型。样本由青年组成（N = 225，M = 16.72 岁，SD = 1.44) 来自葡萄牙少年拘留中心。使用基于模型的聚类分析的结果表明，存在两个不同的青年群体，其特征是在社交焦虑方面不同的精神变态特征。与对照组相比，原发性精神病青年表现出明显更严重的反社会/犯罪行为特征，而继发性精神病青年报告的反社会/犯罪行为特征较不严重，同理心水平较高。基于社交焦虑框架的研究结果表明，精神病的两种亚型在评估方面是相关的，未来预防/治疗干预措施的发展应该考虑到这种类型。