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Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)

Chapter · January 2016

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1101-1

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Psychopathy Checklist: Screening forensic populations. These realities limited the

Version (PCL:SV) scale’s use to situations where comprehensive
case file information and access to individuals is
Kristopher J. Brazil and Adelle E. Forth readily available, and it hindered research on psy-
Department of Psychology, Carleton University, chopathy in non-forensic populations (e.g., civil
Ottawa, ON, Canada psychiatric, community, etc.). As a result, Robert
Hare and his colleagues developed a shorter and
more widely applicable version of the PCL-R
Synonyms called the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Ver-
sion (PCL:SV; Hart et al. 1995). The PCL:SV
Hare psychopathy checklist: screening version; closely mirrors the PCL-R by design and is
PCL:SV; Psychopathy checklist: screening intended for use with individuals aged 16 and
version older in forensic and non-forensic settings. The
scale was designed using the content of the
PCL-R and approximates the administering pro-
Definition cedure, making the PCL:SV a measure of the
construct of psychopathy. This entry will discuss
An assessment rating scale designed for screening the content and structure of the PCL:SV, its
psychopathic traits and behaviors in criminal administering procedures, and psychometric
populations and to assess psychopathic traits and properties of the scale and will briefly discuss
behaviors in noncriminal populations some areas where it has been used in research.

Introduction Content and Structure of the PCL:SV

Assessment of psychopathic personality traits The content of the PCL:SV includes 12 items that
(e.g., callousness, lacking empathy, social devi- are conceptually adapted from the PCL-R. Item
ance) has largely been conducted in criminal response theory analysis has shown that the PCL:
(forensic) populations using the Psychopathy SV items contribute to the total PCL:SV score in a
Checklist-Revised (PCL-R; Hare 1991, 2003). similar way as in the PCL-R scale suggesting
The PCL-R is a reliable and valid rating scale of comparability between the scales (Cooke
psychopathy, but requires extensive resources and et al. 1999). Six of the items assess the core
time to administer and is designed for use with personality traits of psychopathy (Factor 1 or
# Springer International Publishing AG 2016
V. Zeigler-Hill, T.K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1101-1
2 Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)

Part 1), and six items assess the socially deviant or using factor analysis for the PCL-R, with this
antisocial behaviors of psychopathy (Factor 2 or factor structure being extended to the PCL:SV as
Part 2). Because the PCL:SV is designed for use well (Guy and Douglas 2006). These factors are
outside of forensic settings as well, the antisocial conceptually and statistically distinct but are also
items from the PCL-R that specifically tap crimi- positively correlated with each other, showing a
nal behavior were reevaluated to consider antiso- mean weighted coefficient of correlation of 0.53
cial acts that individuals engaged with during (range 0.14–0.73) across 11 samples (Hart
adolescence and in their adult life that did not et al. 1995). A three- and four-factor solution for
necessarily bring them into formal contact with the PCL:SV has also been validated, providing the
the criminal justice system. possibility to calculate scores for these factors as
The PCL:SV is structured to give a total score well (Guy and Douglas 2006). The total score and
and two factor scores. All items are scored on a factor scores can be used for research purposes to
three-point scale from 0 to 2. A score of 0 indicates explore and identify different possible correlates
that the item does not apply to the individual being and predictors associated with either the full con-
assessed or the individual exhibits traits opposite struct of psychopathy (total score) or each aspect
to the item’s description. A score of 2 indicates the of psychopathy (factor scores).
item definitely applies to the individual as
evidenced by many life situations and examples
that indicate the item is a persistent and chronic Administering the PCL:SV
feature of the individual. A score of 1 indicates
that not enough information is provided to secure The PCL:SV can be administered in research or
a score of 0 or 2 or that the item only applies to the applied settings. Examples of applied settings
individual in some limited circumstances (i.e., is where the PCL:SV has been used include screen-
not a persistent and chronic feature of the person). ing for employment (e.g., police officer selection),
Summing the scores for all the items gives the to identify potential for institutional misbehavior
total score (ranging from 0 to 24), summing (e.g., following institution transfer) and to identify
items 1 to 6 gives a Factor 1 score (ranging from placement in psychiatric services (Hart
0 to 12), and summing items 7 to 12 gives a Factor et al. 1995). Different training requirements are
2 score (ranging from 0 to 12). needed depending on whether the PCL:SV is
The total score is a dimensional measure that being administered for clinical/forensic purposes
indicates the magnitude of psychopathic traits and or research purposes. For clinical/forensic pur-
behaviors that the individual exhibits. For clinical poses, the person administering the PCL:SV
and forensic purposes, a cutoff score of !18 is requires an advanced degree and to have adequate
often recommended when making decisions about training administering the scale or its parent scale
individuals that are most likely psychopathic, and the PCL-R to ensure reliability of the scores
individuals with scores from 13 to 17 are consid- obtained. For research purposes, the person
ered candidates to be further assessed with the administering the PCL:SV must at least be under
PCL-R for psychopathic features. Individuals the supervision of a person who has an advanced
with scores lower than 12 are considered to degree and training to use the PCL:SV/PCL-R and
exhibit relatively few psychopathic features and, has been trained by that person to use the scale
if resources and time is limited, can be confidently appropriately. This ensures that the scale is used as
screened out and not require an immediate PCL-R it was intended and that reliable and valid results
follow-up assessment. The factor scores are can be obtained.
dimensional measures of the core personality fea- Administering the PCL:SV typically involves
tures of psychopathy (Factor 1) and antisocial conducting a 30–60-min semi-structured inter-
behavior patterns of psychopathy (Factor 2). The view followed by 20–30 min spent corroborating
two factor scores are provided as a result of pre- information gleaned from the interview with col-
vious studies that have found a two-factor solution lateral file and/or informant information (Hart
Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) 3

et al. 1995). The interview replicates the PCL-R show interrater reliability ranging from 0.84 to
interview structure, which has the intention of 0.92 and internal consistency around alphas of
sampling the individual’s interpersonal style in 0.84 across the different samples (see Hart
addition to formulating questions to gain informa- et al. 1995 for more details).
tion about the individual including their educa-
tional and occupational history and goals, family
history, marital status, childhood and adolescent Research Findings Using the PCL:SV—
conduct problems, adult antisocial behavior, and Validation and Correlated Features
substance use behaviors. Collateral file/informant
review is also important when scoring items, in One of the most reliable findings of the PCL-R is
large part because deceit and manipulation may be its ability to predict future misbehavior such as
strong features of the individual being assessed. risk of violent reoffending in criminal populations
Identifying discrepancies between the informa- (Hare 2003). In one of the largest sample studies
tion from the interview and information from the using the PCL:SV, the McArthur Violence Risk
collateral file/informant review assists with scor- Assessment Study assessed 939 civil psychiatric
ing certain items and ensures accurate and reliable men and women with the PCL:SV as a measure of
measures of the individual’s PCL:SV score. File/ risk for recidivism (Steadman et al. 2000). PCL:
informant review may differ across individuals SV total scores were significantly related to vio-
being assessed since the PCL:SV is applicable in lence in the community suggesting that the PCL:
many settings. For community samples, a single SV may be used to assess risk for recidivism in
informant may be all that is available or feasible civil psychiatric patients. Psychopathy classifica-
for research purposes. In forensic and clinical tion was also the highest-level risk factor for this
settings, however, extensive information from sample using a decision tree model of risk assess-
institutional files may be readily available. For ment. The ability of the PCL:SV to predict risk for
those administering for research purposes, it is general and violent offenses has also been found
recommended to use as many informants as pos- in both intellectually disabled and
sible to corroborate interview information to non-intellectually disabled offenders (Gray
arrive at an accurate and reliable score. et al. 2007). Thus, evidence supports the use of
the PCL:SV for predicting risk of recidivism in
broader groups of individuals beyond the forensic
Psychometric Properties: Norms nonpsychiatric population typically assessed with
and Reliability the PCL-R.
Designed for use with noncriminal/non-
The PCL:SV is normed on 11 samples that com- psychiatric populations, the PCL:SV has been
prises 586 individuals (Hart et al. 1995). Since the used to shed light on psychopathic traits in com-
PCL:SV was designed to be applicable in a broad munity samples as well. PCL:SV scores were
variety of settings, these samples include individ- found to be related to violence, alcohol use, and
uals from forensic nonpsychiatric, forensic psy- negatively with vocabulary intelligence in a com-
chiatric, civil psychiatric, and noncriminal/ munity sample of African American and White
nonpsychiatric populations. Comparing the types men and women, mirroring findings in forensic
of samples on PCL:SV total scores, the forensic samples (Neumann and Hare 2008). However,
nonpsychiatric and forensic psychiatric samples only a maximum of 2% of the sample received
have the highest PCL:SV scores followed by civil total PCL: SV scores above 12, suggesting that
psychiatric samples, and lastly, community sam- even lower scores on the scale can predict mean-
ples have the lowest PCL:SV scores. Across all ingful results such as tendency toward violence
samples, males tend to score higher on the PCL: and alcohol use. Another study from Great Britain
SV than females. The interrater reliability and assessed 638 community men and women with
internal consistency of the PCL:SV total scores the PCL:SV and found PCL:SV total scores were
4 Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV)

positively associated with reporting having Cross-References

engaged with violence in the past 5 years (Coid
and Yang 2011). PCL:SV total scores also signif- ▶ Psychopathy
icantly predicted injury of victims and having ▶ Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R)
three or more victim types (e.g., partner, stranger,
friend).
The PCL:SV has also been used to examine
References
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childhood to adulthood in community youth violence among the household population of Great
(Lynam et al. 2007). PCL:SV scores were signif- Britain. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiol-
icantly correlated with childhood psychopathy ogy, 46, 473–480.
Cooke, D. J., Michie, C., Hart, S. D., & Hare, R. D. (1999).
scores even after controlling for childhood risk Evaluating the screening version of the Hare psychop-
status, family variables, delinquency, and other athy checklist—Revised (PCL:SV): An item response
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of psychopathic traits from childhood to adult- Gray, N. S., Fitzgerald, S., Taylor, J., MacCulloch, M. J., &
Snowden, R. J. (2007). Predicting future reconviction
hood. This research supports the rationale for in offenders with intellectual disabilities: The predic-
designing the PCL:SV for use with non-forensic tive efficacy of VRAG, PCL–SV, and the HCR–20.
populations and enables important research inves- Psychological Assessment, 19, 474–479.
tigating psychopathic personality traits in a broad Guy, L. S., & Douglas, K. S. (2006). Examining the utility
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