Burghart Matthias, Schmidt Sergej, Mier Daniela
Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany.
Department of Criminology, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany.
Psychol Med. 2024 Aug;54(11):2823-2837. doi: 10.1017/S0033291724001259. Epub 2024 Sep 4.
Much research has focused on executive function (EF) impairments in psychopathy, a severe personality disorder characterized by a lack of empathy, antisocial behavior, and a disregard for social norms and moral values. However, it is still unclear to what extent EF deficits are present across psychopathy factors and, more importantly, which EF domains are impaired. The current meta-analysis answers these questions by synthesizing the results of 50 studies involving 5,694 participants from 12 different countries. Using multilevel random-effects models, we pooled effect sizes (Cohen's ) for five different EF domains: overall EF, inhibition, planning, shifting, and working memory. Moreover, differences between psychopathy factors were evaluated. Our analyses revealed deficits in overall EF, inhibition, and planning performance. However, a closer inspection of psychopathy factors indicated that EF deficits were specific to lifestyle/antisocial traits, such as disinhibition. Conversely, interpersonal/affective traits, such as boldness, showed no deficits and in some cases even improved EF performance. These findings suggest that EF deficits are a key feature of psychopathy per se, but rather are related to antisociality and disinhibitory traits. Potential brain correlates of these findings as well as implications for future research and treatment are discussed.
许多研究都聚焦于精神病态中的执行功能（EF）损伤，这是一种严重的人格障碍，其特征包括缺乏同理心、反社会行为以及漠视社会规范和道德价值观。然而，目前尚不清楚执行功能缺陷在精神病态各因素中存在的程度，更重要的是，哪些执行功能领域受到了损害。当前的荟萃分析通过综合来自12个不同国家的5694名参与者的50项研究结果来回答这些问题。我们使用多层次随机效应模型汇总了五个不同执行功能领域的效应量（科恩d值）：整体执行功能、抑制、计划、转换和工作记忆。此外，我们还评估了精神病态各因素之间的差异。我们的分析揭示了整体执行功能、抑制和计划表现方面的缺陷。然而，对精神病态各因素的进一步检查表明，执行功能缺陷特定于生活方式/反社会特质，如行为抑制缺乏。相反，人际/情感特质，如大胆，并未表现出缺陷，在某些情况下甚至改善了执行功能表现。这些发现表明，执行功能缺陷并非精神病态本身的关键特征，而是与反社会性和抑制解除特质相关。我们还讨论了这些发现潜在的大脑关联以及对未来研究和治疗的启示。
