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Scientific research by the Lovefraud team

Surviving Senior Psychopathy: Informant Reports of Deceit and Antisocial Behavior in Multiple Types of Relationships. Donna M. Andersen, Emma Veltman and Martin Sellbom. Scientific article for the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, January 2022.

Abstract: A prevailing view among researchers and mental health clinicians is that symptoms of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD)/psychopathy decrease as affected individuals reach middle age. In the current investigation, informants were surveyed about the behavior of individuals who they believed showed traits of ASPD/psychopathy and were over the age of 50. A final sample of 1,215 respondents rated the index individuals according to the ASPD/psychopathy traits derived from the pre-publication first draft of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fifth Edition, revealing high endorsement of traits associated with ASPD. Survey respondents reported their observations that individuals who met a threshold for putative ASPD/psychopathy continued to engage in antisocial behavior after age 50, and as a result the respondents endured significant harm, including material losses, financial losses, and various self-reported mental health problems. Those who knew the index individuals both before and after the age of 50 were specifically asked whether there was a change in the individual’s engagement in manipulation, deceit, and antisocial behavior; 93% of respondents reported that the behavior was just as bad or worse after age 50. Other researchers have suggested that the DSM diagnostic criteria do not accurately describe ASPD/psychopathy symptoms and behavior in older adults, and that the disorder remains stable, but its manifestation changes with age. This study supports those conclusions.

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Counseling Intimate Partner Abuse Survivors: Effective and Ineffective Interventions. Liane J. Leedom, M.D., Donna Andersen, Mary Ann Glynn, LCSW, and Meredith Barone. Scientific article for the Journal of Counseling and Development, October 2019.

Abstract: This study obtained feedback from intimate partner abuse survivors regarding helpful and unhelpful therapy. The survivors’ (n = 104) narrative accounts and answers to quantitative questions were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis. Results suggested that survivors sought to use therapy to understand themselves and the abuse they endured. Therapist diagnoses of codependency or assertions that survivors chose the relationship weakened the therapeutic alliance and reduced the perceived helpfulness of therapy.

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Psychopathy: A Behavioral Systems Approach. Liane Leedom. Book Chapter, Psychopathy — New Updates on an Old Phenomenon, September 2017.
Why do they do that? is the question theories of psychopathy should answer. Current theories of psychopathy fail to answer this question because they focus on affective and inhibitory deficits rather than on motivation. Antisocial behavior is appetitive and therefore can only be explained with a motivational theory. This chapter presents a motivational theory of psychopathy that draws on the ethological framework. The chapter answers all four questions of ethology as applied to psychopathy.

 

 

The Impact of Psychopathy on the Family. Liane Leedom. Book chapter, Psychopathy, September 2017.

Abstract: Psychopathy is the amalgamation of personality disorder traits associated with criminal and other antisocial behavior. Although current theory postulates that psychopathic individuals do not form lasting bonds with others, this chapter provides ample evidence that psychopathic individuals are highly social and maintain ties over years. Psychopathic individuals have relationships with friends, co-workers, relatives, siblings, parents, romantic partners, and children. These relationships serve their social and material needs. This chapter presents all available studies to date on the friendship, filial, sibling, partnering, and parenting behavior of psychopathic individuals. The impact of psychopathic individuals on organizational and family functioning is also addressed.

 

The Problem of Parental Psychopathy. Liane J. Leedom, Annette Bass, and Linda Hartoonian Almas. Article for the Journal of Child Custody, 10:2, 154-184, June 2013.

The parenting behavior of psychopathic individuals as reported in prior quantitative studies is reviewed and considered in the context of new qualitative data. This article reports a qualitative analysis of seven published memoirs written by adult sons and daughters of psychopathic individuals and triangulates this analysis with data from two cases. Qualitative data reveal themes of warmth and togetherness as well as manipulation and abuse. A developmental account of children’s understanding of parental psychopathy was generated. A model relating the facets of psychopathy as assessed by the PCL–R to parenting and children’s responses to that parenting is presented. The article highlights many issues important to professionals evaluating families in custody cases where parental psychopathy is suspected or alleged.

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The Dominance Behavioral System and Psychopathology: Evidence From Self-Report, Observational, and Biological Studies. Sheri L. Johnson, Liane Leedom, Luma Muhtadie. Article for Psychological Bulletin 138(4):692-743, April 2012.

Abstract: The dominance behavioral system (DBS) can be conceptualized as a biologically based system that guides dominance motivation, dominant and subordinate behavior, and responsivity to perceptions of power and subordination. A growing body of research suggests that problems with the DBS are evident across a broad range of psychopathologies. We begin by describing psychological, social, and biological correlates of the DBS. Extensive research suggests that externalizing disorders, mania proneness, and narcissistic traits are related to heightened dominance motivation and behaviors. Mania and narcissistic traits also appear related to inflated self-perceptions of power. Anxiety and depression are related to subordination and submissiveness, as well as a desire to avoid subordination. Models of the DBS have received support from research with humans and animals; from self-report, observational, and biological methods; and use of naturalistic and experimental paradigms. Limitations of available research include the relative lack of longitudinal studies using multiple measures of the DBS and the absence of relevant studies using diagnosed samples to study narcissistic personality disorder and bipolar disorder. We provide suggestions for future research on the DBS and psychopathology, including investigations of the potential usefulness of DBS in differentiating specific disorder outcomes, the need for more sophisticated biological research, and the value of longitudinal dynamical research. Implications of using the DBS as a tool in clinical assessment and treatment are discussed.

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Human Social Behavior Systems: A Unified Theory. Liane Leedom. Article for Human Ethology Bulletin 29 (2014):1 pp-pp.

Abstract: Drive theories of motivation proposed by Lorenz and Tinbergen did not survive experimental scrutiny; however these were replaced by the behavioral systems framework. Unfortunately, political forces within science including the rise of sociobiology and comparative psychology, caused neglect of this important framework. This review revives the concept of behavioral systems and demonstrates its utility in the development of a unified theory of human social behavior and social bonding. Although the term “attachment” has been used to indicate social bonds which motivate affiliation, four differentiable social reward systems mediate social proximity and bond formation: the affiliation (attachment), caregiving, dominance and sexual behavioral systems. Ethology is dedicated to integrating inborn capacities with experiential learning as well as the proximal and ultimate causes of behavior. Hence, the behavioral systems framework developed by ethologists nearly 50 years ago, enables discussion of a unified theory of human social behavior.

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Senior Psychopaths: Informant Reports of Deceit, Exploitation and Antisocial Behavior Beyond Age 50. Donna Andersen. Research poster for the 8th Biennial Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, May 2-4, 2019, Las Vegas, Nevada.

The common wisdom among researchers and mental health clinicians is that psychopaths tend to “burn out” in middle age. This impression is supported by research with criminals (e.g. Hare, McPherson & Forth, 1988, Arboleda-Florez & Holley, 1991).

An online survey sought informant reports of antisocial behavior in likely antisocial individuals in the community who were age 50 or older. A total of 2,120 romantic partners, family members, friends and associates of putative antisocial individuals responded.

Of the total survey respondents, 1,215 rated the individuals according to the nine criteria proposed in the first draft of the DSM-5 for ASPD/psychopathy. Symptoms were rated on a 0-3 scale, from “0 = Very little or not at all like that” to “3 = Extremely like that,” for a total possible score of 27. Responses indicated that participants understood the items. The mean total score for putative ASPD individuals was 21.19, SD 5.116, and Cronbach’s α was 0.811 for the nine items.

Qualitative responses were collected to add validity to the numeric scores. Asked if the individual was manipulative while over age 50, 97.67% of respondents agreed.

A total of 826 respondents said they knew the individual both before age 50 and after age 50. Asked if the individual “mellowed out” or “burned out” and engaged in less manipulation, deceit or antisocial behavior after age 50, 1.91% (17) said yes, much less; 6.76% (60) said somewhat less; 39.30% (349) said no, the same amount of manipulation; and 52.03% (462) said the manipulation, deceit and antisocial behavior became worse after age 50.

Therefore, 91.33% of respondents said the putative antisocial individual’s behavior was just as bad or worse after age 50.

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In Love With an Exploiter: Sexual Deception Correlates with Increased Harm to Romantic Partners. Donna Andersen. Research poster presented at the 5th Biennial Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, June 6-8, 2013, Washington, D.C.

Romantic partners of putative antisocial individuals completed an anonymous online survey. Respondents rated partners according to the criteria proposed in the first draft of the DSM-5 and answered questions about their experience, including harm suffered.

Of all survey respondents, 81.5% said the individual was truthful about sexual orientation, and 18.5% reported that they lied. Analyzing these two groups separately—data about putative sociopathic individuals who told the truth about their sexual orientation vs. those who lied—showed that sexual deception correlated with increased harm suffered by the romantic partner. On almost every measure, individuals who were sexually deceptive displayed more antisocial traits, more antisocial behavior, and caused more harm to their romantic partners, than those who were not sexually deceptive.

The results were particularly striking when comparing sexually deceptive vs. not sexually deceptive in regards to physical violence and sexual demands: Victims reported more physical abuse or injury (46% vs. 33%). They reported having their lives threatened more often (49% vs. 30%). They reported more pets injured or killed (23% vs. 12%). They reported more cheating (87% vs. 72%). And they reported uncomfortable sexual demands (53% vs. 37%).

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In Love With an Exploiter: How Age Affects Harm Experienced by Romantic Partners. Donna Andersen. Research poster presented at the 5th Biennial Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, June 6-8, 2013, Washington, D.C.

Romantic partners of putative antisocial individuals completed an anonymous online survey. Respondents rated partners according to the criteria proposed in the first draft of the DSM-5 and answered questions about their experience, including harm suffered. In another analysis of the survey data, respondents were divided into two groups—those who were involved in youthful relationships, where both parties were between the ages of 14 and 30, and those relationships were both parties were age 31 or older.

Respondents of both age groups reported two of the top characteristics, manipulativeness and callousness, at similar rates. However, all other traits—deceitfulness, narcissism, irresponsibility, impulsivity, aggression, hostility and recklessness—were reported at higher rates among the younger individuals.

Comparing the youthful vs. mature involvements: Victims reported more physical abuse or injury (54% vs. 29%). They reported having their lives threatened more often (42% vs. 28%). There were more reports of the putative antisocial individual threatening suicide (31% vs. 17%). And the victims themselves more often considered suicide (46% vs. 34%). In regards to financial harm, the youthful victims more often lost their homes (36% vs. 23%), lost their jobs (31% vs. 24%) and incurred debt (69% vs. 56%).

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Antisocial/Psychopathic Personality: What do Family Members, Romantic Partners and Friends Report? Donna Andersen. Research poster presented with Liane J. Leedom, M.D., at the 4th Biennial Meeting of the Society for the Scientific Study of Psychopathy, May 19-20, 2011, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Aims: The present study examined the construct of DSM V antisocial/psychopathic personality through reports of romantic partners, family members and friends of putative antisocial individuals. Rationale: We maintain that educated informants who have known subjects for a long period of time have important information to share regarding their behavior and functioning.

Methods: Romantic partners, family members and friends of putative antisocial individuals were accessed through a public education website. These informants completed an anonymous survey which included ratings of proposed DSM V dimensions as well as open ended questions regarding their observations and experiences. Respondents were also asked about their understanding of the terms, “sociopath,” “psychopath” and “antisocial personality disorder”.

Results: Respondents (N= 1,378) rated the putative antisocial individuals as quite manipulative, deceitful, callous and narcissistic (in that order). These individuals were also judged to be hostile, aggressive, irresponsible, impulsive and reckless, though overall less so. Males were described as more deceitful, irresponsible and reckless than were females. Contrary to the proposed DSM V language, most respondents indicated that these very antisocial individuals did “articulate love,” and less so, “anxiety.” Interestingly, a minority of the subject antisocial individuals, about 10%, were described as rarely or never articulating love.

Conclusions: Informants who have known subjects well for a long period of time are useful sources of information about those subjects and the nature of the antisocial/psychopathic personality pattern. Antisocial/psychopathic individuals do maintain social connections, often for extended periods of time; they also “articulate love” in the service of these connections, which serve their social and material needs. The public would benefit from an agreed upon, precise diagnostic label for this condition. The proposed DSM V term antisocial/psychopathic type is too cumbersome for public education.

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