Data from: Reliability and construct validity of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised in a Swedish non-criminal sample: a multimethod approach including psychophysiological correlates of empathy for pain

Cross-cultural investigation of psychopathy measures is important for clarifying the nomological network surrounding the psychopathy construct. The Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R) is one of the most extensively researched self-report measures of psychopathic traits in adults. To date however, it has been examined primarily in North American criminal or student samples. To address this gap in the literature, we examined PPI-R’s reliability, construct validity and factor structure in non-criminal individuals (N = 227) in Sweden, using a multimethod approach including psychophysiological correlates of empathy for pain. PPI-R construct validity was investigated in subgroups of participants by exploring its degree of overlap with (i) the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), (ii) self-rated empathy and behavioral and physiological responses in an experiment on empathy for pain, and (iii) additional self-report measures of alexithymia and trait anxiety. The PPI-R total score was significantly associated with PCL:SV total and factor scores. The PPI-R Coldheartedness scale demonstrated significant negative associations with all empathy subscales and with rated unpleasantness and skin conductance responses in the empathy experiment. The PPI-R higher order Self-Centered Impulsivity and Fearless Dominance dimensions were associated with trait anxiety in opposite directions (positively and negatively, respectively). Overall, the results demonstrated solid reliability (test-retest and internal consistency) and promising but somewhat mixed construct validity for the Swedish translation of the PPI-R.对精神病态测评工具开展跨文化研究，对于厘清围绕精神病态构念的法理网络具有重要意义。《精神病态人格量表修订版（Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised, PPI-R）》是当前成人精神病态特质自评量表中研究最为广泛的工具之一。然而迄今为止，该量表的相关研究主要集中于北美罪犯或学生样本。为填补这一文献空白，本研究以瑞典227名非犯罪成年人群为被试（N = 227），采用包含疼痛共情心理生理关联指标的多方法研究范式，对PPI-R的信度、结构效度及因子结构进行了考察。本研究通过探索PPI-R与以下三者的重叠程度，在被试亚组中验证了其结构效度：(i) 《精神病态检查表：筛查版（Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version, PCL:SV）》；(ii) 疼痛共情实验中的自评共情水平、行为与生理反应；(iii) 述情障碍与特质焦虑的其他自评量表。PPI-R总分与PCL:SV总分及因子分均呈显著相关。PPI-R的冷酷无情（Coldheartedness）分量表与所有共情分量表、疼痛共情实验中评定的不适感程度及皮肤电反应均呈显著负相关。PPI-R的高阶维度——以自我为中心的冲动性（Self-Centered Impulsivity）与无畏支配性（Fearless Dominance）——与特质焦虑呈相反方向的关联（分别为正相关与负相关）。总体而言，研究结果表明，PPI-R瑞典译本具有良好的信度（重测信度与内部一致性信度），其结构效度表现喜忧参半，但整体颇具前景。