Development and validation of the super-short form of the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment

Purpose Current measures of psychopathy are limited in a number of ways, including length, administration methods, and reliance on history of antisocial behavior. Both the full and short forms of the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment (EPA) have demonstrated convergent validity and strong relations to other psychopathy measures and external criteria empirically associated with psychopathy. Methods In order to create an even briefer version of the EPA-SF, the EPA was administered to two separate undergraduate samples (n = 907 and n = 787) and a smaller sample of male prison inmates (n = 77) along with widely used measures of psychopathy and measures of Big Five personality traits and antisocial behavior. Results Eighteen items (one per EPA subscale) were chosen to comprise the final “super-short” form. Exploratory factor analyses performed at the item level showed a three-factor solution (Antagonism, Disinhibition, and Emotional Stability). The factor scales and total score of the EPA super-short form demonstrated strong relations to other psychopathy measures and external criteria associated with psychopathy. Conclusions The EPA super-short form could be a promising alternative to other psychopathy measures currently used in criminology due to its brevity and basis in an empirically validated personality model.