Neuropsychological diff. between primary and secondary psychopathy
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Exploring neuropsychological differences between primary and secondary psychopathy
IRAS ID
273821
Contact name
Michael Lewis
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Ashworth Research Centre (ARC), Merseycare NHS Trust
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
19/NW/0738, Research Reference Number
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 2 days
Research summary
Accumulating research suggests the presence of two distinct groups of individuals with psychopathic traits; primary and secondary psychopaths. The key difference between the two is that the development of primary psychopathy is thought to be more influenced by heritable factors, whereas in secondary psychopathy, this is believed to be more influenced by environmental factors. Studies suggest that these two groups may differ in terms of cognitive and behavioural aspects, however, there is still limited knowledge on what these specific differences are. For this reason, the current study aims to clarify neuropsychological differences between primary and secondary psychopathy.
Specifically, it seeks to investigate whether these two groups differ on the following variables; verbal intelligence, executive functioning, interpersonal functioning, emotional detachment and emotion regulation. To this end, the study will recruit a male sample from multiple wards in Ashworth High Secure Hospital, UK, who will be asked to complete a number of tests and self-report questionnaires. The completion of all tests and questionnaires is expected to take 2 hours in total, however, these will be spread across multiple sessions. The total duration of the study, including the preparation of measures, recruitment of participants, collecting, coding and analysing the data and writing up the final report (Master thesis) will be 10 months.REC name
North West - Haydock Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/NW/0738
Date of REC Opinion
23 Dec 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion