مطالعه مقدماتی یافته های اختلالات فکری و روانی و اختلالات عاطفی در متجاوزان جنسی بزرگسال

The construct of psychopathy has often been considered mutually exclusive to the presence of genuine depressive or anxiety symptomotology. This article addresses the hypothesized reasons for this dichotomous relationship. In this study, 68 civilly committed adult male sex offenders were evaluated using a variety of psychological measures to determine if psychopathic individuals in this group would demonstrate clinically significant affective symptoms. Results indicate that the men in this sample endorsed high rates of psychopathy on the PCL-R, with 42% of these expressing concurrent symptoms of depression and 26% manifesting symptoms of an anxiety disorder. Relationships between affective symptoms and PCL-R factor scores and qualitative differences between these constructs in child molesters and rapists are also discussed.

Within the fields of forensic and clinical psychology, there has been a growing interest in psychopathy and its related correlates. Much research has been conducted in an attempt to more precisely define what the psychopath is and what this particular set of traits implies for those involved in treatment planning, prediction of future behavior, and the formation of developmental theory. There is a dearth of research, however, that focuses on psychopathy and co-morbidity with other psychological disorders, such as affective or mood disorders. In this paper, we will evaluate the research contributions to the literature regarding psychopathy and affective disorders, provide data on a group of civilly committed sex offenders who demonstrate both psychopathy and significant affective symptoms, and discuss future implications for clinicians and researchers interested in this area.