Gender patterns in antisocial personality disorder and psychopathy

Abstract

Several studies have reported a gender bias in the prevalence of antisocial personality disorder (ASPD); however, determining the cause of such biases remains to be accomplished. The dominant explanation for gender bias is a bias within the diagnosis and diagnostic criteria of ASPD. Previous research has primarily focused on male populations when examining ASPD resulting in males being the standard of comparison, and thus not generalizable to female populations. In attempt to challenge this standard, researchers have examined ASPD in female populations and reported a difference in the prevalence of ASPD between the genders. Researchers have since further investigated this difference and reported it might be attributed to biases in the diagnostic criteria of ASPD. In addition to gender biases in ASPD, there are reported observed gender biases in psychopathy. The explanation for the differences in gender is that some PCL-R (psychopathy checklist revised) items are biased towards gender, which results in different prevalence rates between the genders. To contribute to the existing research, I completed a systematic literature review examining the observable gender patterns in ASPD, conduct disorder (CD), and psychopathy. The culmination of articles in the review revealed that there are significant differences in gender in ASPD, CD, and psychopathy diagnoses. Although, the explanation for the differences in ASPD diagnoses have yet to be identified.