@article{ref1,
title="Assessing psychopathy in the UK: concerns about cross-cultural generalisability",
journal="British journal of psychiatry",
year="2005",
author="Cooke, David John and Michie, Christine and Hart, Stephen D. and Clark, David",
volume="186",
number="",
pages="335-341",
abstract="BACKGROUND: The diagnosis of psychopathy is important for violence risk assessment. AIMS: To investigate whether the syndromal structure of psychopathy, as measured by the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), is the same in the UK and North America, and whether this measure yields scores that are equivalent in these two regions. METHOD: Confirmatory factor analytic and item response theory methods were applied to large samples of PCL-R ratings. RESULTS: The syndromal structure of psychopathy was invariant across cultures, three distinct factors underpinning the superordinate syndrome of psychopathy. However, PCL-R scores were not equivalent across cultures: the same level of psychopathy was associated with lower PCL-R scores in the UK. Items that reflected affective symptoms had the highest cross-cultural stability. CONCLUSIONS: Scores on the PCL-R obtained in the UK are not directly comparable with those obtained in North America. Care must be exercised when the PCL-R is used to make important clinical decisions in the UK.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0007-1250",
doi="10.1192/bjp.186.4.335",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1192/bjp.186.4.335"
}