Interpersonal and Affective Traits of Psychopathy in Child Sexual Abusers: Evidence from a Pilot Study Sample of Italian Offenders

It has been demonstrated that psychopathy is a crucial construct for the understanding of criminal and violent behavior. However, research on psychopathic traits among child sexual abusers is still scant. In this study, the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised was used to assess psychopathy in a group of 87 Italian, male inmates who were convicted of violent crimes. Child sexual abusers (N = 23) scored higher on the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised interpersonal-affective factor compared to participants who did not perpetrate child sexual abuse. Notably, child sexual abusers showed a very high average score on the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised affective dimension; furthermore, they showed high scores on the two Psychopathy Checklist–Revised items excluded from its two factors–four facets structure (i.e., the items denoting devaluation of intimate relationships). The results of this study may positively inform the development of treatment strategies for child sexual abusers.