Psychopathy and Sadism: A Systematic Review of Their Association, Core Dimensions, and Nosological Implications
Abstract
This systematic review aimed to synthesize the available scientific evidence on the relationship between psychopathy and sadism. It was conducted in accordance with the PRISMA 2020 guidelines and prospectively registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO, CRD420261394636). Included studies had to assess both constructs using validated instruments such as the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP), the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP), the Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Revised (PPI-R), or the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) for psychopathy and clinical or behavioral scales for sadism or sexual sadism. A literature search was performed in PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science using terms related to psychopathy, sexual violence, sexual aggression, and sadism, combined with Boolean operators. Two reviewers independently performed study selection and data extraction, while methodological quality was assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS), Cochrane Risk of Bias version 2 (RoB 2), and AMSTAR-2 (A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2) tools. The certainty of the evidence was evaluated using the GRADE framework. According to the PRISMA flowchart, 1,061 records were identified. After removing 239 duplicates and applying the selection criteria, 18 studies (19 reports) involving 12,302 participants with a mean age of 34.01 ± 9.98 years were included. The…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 12,302 participants or records.
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