COMPATi: A Randomized Controlled Trial on the Efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP Program Among Male Prison Inmates With Psychopathy
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 招募中
- 入组人数
- 200
- 试验地点
- 2
- 主要终点
- Efficacy Testing: change from eligibility assessment in participant-reported psychopathy (primary outcome) to six-month follow-up
研究概览
简要总结
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether PSYCHOPATHY.COMP, an individual compassion-focused, therapy-based intervention of 20 weekly sessions, can reduce psychopathy in prison inmates. Psychopathy is linked with the most severe and persistent forms of antisocial behavior. This trial will also learn whether the program improves emotional and behavioral regulation.
The main questions are:
- Does PSYCHOPATHY.COMP reduce psychopathy?
- Does PSYCHOPATHY.COMP improve emotional and behavioral regulation? Researchers will compare PSYCHOPATHY.COMP with the usual individual case management support provided in prisons.
Portuguese-speaking adult male prison inmates will be invited to participate. Those who consent to participate will be screened for inclusion (T0). A total of 200 eligible participants will take part. All participants will be invited to complete a baseline assessment (T1, pre-treatment assessment), after which they will be randomly assigned to receive PSYCHOPATHY.COMP or the usual care provided in the prison for a period of around six months. All participants will be invited to complete a post-treatment assessment (T2) and a six-month follow-up assessment post-treatment. Assessments will collect data on sociodemographic characteristics and legal/criminal information, psychological outcomes (psychopathy, emotional regulation, and behavioral regulation), psychological mediators (mechanisms of change: compassion-related variables), and moderators (personality pathology), and data on social desirability.
This study aims to contribute to advancing scientific knowledge about whether and how to reduce psychopathy among prison inmates and have an impact on clinical practice and society by making available evidence-based interventions to this at-risk/high-risk population.
详细描述
There has long been interest in the study of psychopathy, defined as a set of interpersonal (e.g., grandiosity, manipulation), affective (e.g., callousness, unemotionality), deviant lifestyle (e.g., impulsivity, irresponsibility), and antisocial traits (e.g., criminal versatility). Psychopathy is usually associated with the most severe and persistent forms of antisocial behavior, being a strong predictor of violent behavior and overall criminal recidivism. Given that inmates with psychopathy represent 15-40% of the in-prison population (depending on the risk level of the sample and type of crime), delivering evidence-based interventions specifically tailored to their needs, mitigating the clinical and societal costs of psychopathy and antisocial behavior, is of utmost relevance.
To our knowledge, the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP is the first program specifically designed to reduce psychopathy and antisocial behavior through the promotion of a compassionate motivation. PSYCHOPATHY.COMP consists of a structured, individual, 20-session therapy-based intervention based on Compassion Focused Therapy (CFT). Results from a (nonrandomized) controlled clinical trial showed that the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP is an effective treatment for reducing psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior in detained youth, as well as for promoting compassionate motivation and emotion regulation (medium/large effect sizes), with compassionate motivation having a significant mediating effect on the changeability of psychopathic traits. Results showed treatment effects were sustained for up to six months after the intervention. Despite these findings, it is unknown whether prison inmates with psychopathy can benefit from this program, as they are considered more resistant to treatment than their youth counterparts. This project aims to test the efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP in reducing psychopathic traits, as well as in promoting emotion and behavior regulation among male adults (19-30 years; developmentally closer age range of detained youth) prison inmates through the promotion of a compassionate motivation.
COMPATi aims to test the efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP among adult male prison inmates with antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) and high levels of psychopathic traits. Specifically, it aims to:
PRIMARY GOALS:
- Test the efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP in reducing psychopathic traits (primary outcome) when compared with Treatment as Usual (TAU) within one month after the treatment completion, and assess the stability of change up to six months after treatment,
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Treatment
- 盲法
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 19 Years 至 30 Years（Adult）
- 性别
- Male
- 接受健康志愿者
- 否
入选标准
- •male prison inmates,
- •Portuguese-speaking,
- •aged between 19 and 30 years
- •having at least one prior case in the juvenile justice system in which a judicial measure was applied,
- •with high levels of psychopathic traits (measured with the SRP-SF and LSRPS self-reported questionnaires)
- •with an Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD) diagnosis (measured with the SCID-II)
排除标准
- •suspected psychotic/autism spectrum disorders and/or cognitive impairments,
- •sentence length inferior to 24 months since the start of the study.
研究组 & 干预措施
Control
Treatment as Usual (TAU)
干预措施: Treatment as Usual (TAU) (Other)
Treatment
PSYCHOPATHY.COMP
干预措施: PSYCHOPATHY.COMP (Behavioral)
结局指标
主要结局
Efficacy Testing: change from eligibility assessment in participant-reported psychopathy (primary outcome) to six-month follow-up
时间窗: From eligibility to six months after the end of treatment. Measured at eligibility (T0), baseline assessment (T1, pre-treatment), within one month after the end of treatment (T2, post-treatment), and six months (T3, follow-up) after the end of treatment
Modified intention-to-treat (mITT, all participants randomized) and per protocol (PP, only participants who completed a sufficient dose) analyses of mean differences in participant-reported psychopathy between PSYCHOPATHY.COMP and TAU groups. Measured with the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale - Short-form (SRP-SF): a 29-item, shortened version of SRP-4 that assesses psychopathy according to the conceptualization of the Hare's Psychopathy Checklist - Revised. SRP-SF measures four facets of psychopathy: interpersonal (INT; 7 items), affective (AFF; 7 items), lifestyle (LIF; 7 items), and antisocial (ANT; 8 items). Items are rated on a five-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1: "Strongly disagree" to 5: "Strongly agree". Total and subscale scores are computed by summing the corresponding individual item scores (after correcting for reversed items), with higher scores indicating higher levels of psychopathic traits.
次要结局
- Efficacy Testing: changes from baseline in participant-reported emotional regulation (secondary outcome) to six-month follow-up(From baseline to six months after the end of treatment. Measured at baseline assessment (T1, pre-treatment), within one month after the end of treatment (T2, post-treatment), and six months (T3, follow-up) after the end of treatment)
- Efficacy Testing: changes from eligibility in participant-reported behavioral regulation (secondary outcome) to six-month follow-up(From eligibility to six months after the end of treatment: from eligibility to baseline (T0-T1, pre-treatment), baseline to within one-month after treatment (T1-T2, during treatment), within one-month to six months after treatment (T2-T3, post-treatment))
研究者
Diana Ribeiro da Silva
Assistant Professor
University of Coimbra