The factor structure and psychometric properties of the Psychopathy Checklist -Revised: Data from an Hispanic federal-inmate sample

The utility of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised in an Hispanic Federal inmate sample was investigated. The sample consisted of 127 Hispanic and 38 non-Hispanic white male inmates incarcerated at either Bastrop or Big Spring, Texas. The PCL-R, MMPI-2, and PAI were administered to each of the participants. The traditional two-factor model of psychopathy was tested and the construct of psychopathy was assessed using multitrait-multimethod matrix proposed by Campbell and Fiske (1959). The results showed that the three-factor hierarchical model proposed by Cooke and Michie (2001) produced better fit indices using the data from the Hispanic inmates than did the traditional two-factor model. In addition, the interpersonal style factor (factor 1) was positively associated with the dominance and mania scales of the PAI, while the behavioral factor (factor 3) and total scores were positively associated with antisocial features scale of the PAI and the psychopathic deviant scale of the MMPI-2. Future research should: (a) increase the sample size in order to assess the stability of the three-factor hierarchical model in Hispanic samples; (b) include inmates sentenced for offenses other than drug offenses (i.e. violent offenses); (c) assess differences between subgroups within the Hispanic populations; and (d) focus on correlated subscales of the clinical scales of the MMPI-2 and PAI