Department of Psychology, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, USA.
Crim Behav Ment Health. 2024 Oct;34(5):431-445. doi: 10.1002/cbm.2353. Epub 2024 Sep 12.
There is a substantial research literature on identifying risk and protective factors for violence perpetration. Substance use disorders have long been identified as constituting a significant predictor of violent behaviour. Psychopathy traits have also been similarly recognised, but inter-relationships between psychopathy traits, features of substance use disorders and violence have been little explored.
To determine the degree to which shared variance between substance dependence symptoms and violence, as indicated by criminal charges for violent offences, among jailed men can be explained by psychopathy traits.
Features of dependence on substances in three drug classes (alcohol, cannabis and cocaine) were assessed in a sample of 682 men in a county jail awaiting trial on criminal charges, many for violent offences. Statistical comparisons of zero-order and partial correlations tested whether accounting for psychopathy total and facet scores, assessed by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), affected associations between substance dependence symptoms and violent charges.
Total PCL-R scores accounted for a significant proportion of the shared variance between the history of criminal charges for violence offences and lifetime substance dependence symptoms in all three drug classes. At the facet level, controlling for ratings on the interpersonal and modified antisocial facets reduced the association between criminal charges for violent offences and symptoms of cocaine dependence; controlling for ratings on a modified antisocial facet also attenuated links between alcohol and cannabis dependence symptoms and history of charges for violent offences.
These findings build on the sparse literature to date on the role of psychopathy traits on relationships between features of substance use disorders and violence. Given that the observed connection between substance dependence symptoms and charges for violent offences is partly accounted for by individual differences in psychopathy traits, it follows that effective treatment for those traits may be useful, perhaps essential to reducing links between features of some substance use disorders and violent offending.
有大量关于识别暴力行为发生的风险和保护因素的研究文献。长期以来，物质使用障碍被认为是暴力行为的一个重要预测因素。精神变态特征也同样得到了认可，但精神变态特征、物质使用障碍的特征和暴力之间的相互关系却很少被探索。
确定物质依赖症状与暴力之间的共同方差程度，这些暴力行为表现为入狱男性因暴力犯罪而被指控，这些被指控的暴力犯罪可以用精神变态特征来解释。
在一个等待刑事审判的县监狱的 682 名男性样本中，评估了三种药物类别（酒精、大麻和可卡因）中物质依赖的特征，许多人因暴力犯罪而被指控。零阶和偏相关的统计比较检验了是否考虑到精神病检查表修订版（PCL-R）评估的精神变态总分数和方面分数，影响了物质依赖症状和暴力指控之间的关联。
PCL-R 总分解释了暴力犯罪指控史与所有三种药物类别的终生物质依赖症状之间的共同方差的很大一部分。在方面水平上，控制人际和修正反社会方面的评分降低了暴力犯罪指控与可卡因依赖症状之间的关联；控制修正反社会方面的评分也减弱了酒精和大麻依赖症状与暴力犯罪指控之间的联系。
这些发现建立在迄今为止关于精神变态特征在物质使用障碍特征与暴力之间的关系中的作用的文献基础上。鉴于物质依赖症状与暴力犯罪指控之间的观察到的联系部分归因于个体在精神变态特征方面的差异，因此，针对这些特征的有效治疗可能是有用的，也许对于减少某些物质使用障碍和暴力犯罪之间的联系是必不可少的。
