Reliability and Validity of the Revised Psychopathy Checklist in Women Methadone Patients

Abstract

The Revised Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) has been found to be a reliable and valid measure of psychopathy in men prisoners. More recently the PCL-R has been shown to be a reliable instrument in assessing psychopathy in men methadone patients. To date, only two studies have reported on the reliability of the PCL-R with women prisoners and no published studies address the question of the reliability and validity of the PCL-R with women substance abusers. This investigation examines the homogeneity and internal consistency of the PCL-R in a sample of 58 women methadone patients. Additionally, the 1-month test-retest reliability was examined along with the relationship of the PCL-R to other diagnostic and self-report measures. Results show that the PCL-R appears to be a reliable and valid measure of psychopathy in women methadone patients.