Does consideration of psychopathy and sexual deviance add to the predictive validity of the static-99R?

The Static-99 is the most commonly used actuarial risk assessment tool for the prediction of sexual recidivism. In addition, the use of psychopathy and sexual deviance has been common in assessing sexual offenders, based on research suggesting that these factors have predictive validity. It has also become common practice to modify risk assessments based on the Static-99/99R because of the presence of psychopathy and indicators of deviant sexual interests, although to date there has been no research validating this procedure. The current research was conducted to fill this gap in the literature. Using a sample of 272 sexual offenders, the extent to which psychopathy, sexual deviance, and their interaction added to the predictive validity of the Static-99R was examined. Analyses were conducted using the whole sample as well as subgroups of rapists and child molesters. It was found that although the Static-99R predicted sexual recidivism, adding psychopathy and sexual deviance in a Cox regression analysis did not improve the prediction. This held true for child molesters when examined on their own. For rapists, although psychopathy and sexual deviance did not contribute to the prediction of sexual recidivism, for serious (i.e., violent including sexual) recidivism, the inclusion of psychopathy added to the prediction. Results are discussed in terms of implications for practice.