Casenote assessment of psychopathy in a high security hospital

INTRODUCTION: There is now a large amount of data demonstrating the internal reliability and construct validity of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist (PCL/PCL-R) when used in the assessment of psychopathy in male forensic populations. It has well-established psychometric properties when scored following a review of collateral information and a subsequent interview. However, its internal reliability and factor structure, when casenote information alone has been used, have not been examined outside North America. METHOD: A sample of 89 patients from a British high security hospital, with the legal classification of psychopathic disorder, was scored retrospectively on the PCL-R from their medical files only. The psychometric properties of the PCL-R were analysed. Results The PCL-R ratings showed a high level of internal reliability. The factor structure was very similar to that found in Hare's North American sample of forensic psychiatric patients. DISCUSSION: The findings support the application of the PCL-R, when scored using existing file data alone, to a British high security hospital population.