What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to evaluate the reliability of the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) among life-sentenced prisoners.

April 16, 2026

Field reliability of the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised among life-sentenced prisoners in Sweden: A follow-up study.

Key Points

The aim is to evaluate the reliability of the Psychopathy Checklist–Revised (PCL-R) among life-sentenced prisoners.
Conducted forensic assessments using PCL-R among life-sentenced prisoners in Sweden.
Evaluated changes in reliability over the past decade.
Analyzed the influence of structured violence risk factors on scoring.
PCL-R reliability has remained moderate over the past decade.
Structured violence risk factors are prioritized over psychopathy ratings in final judgments.
Caution is advised in high-stakes legal decisions based on psychopathy assessments.

Abstract

Reliability of the PCL-R in Swedish forensic assessments has not improved over the past decade and remains moderate. Moreover, structured violence risk factors may weigh more heavily in final judgments than psychopathy ratings. While this reliance may limit the impact of variability in PCL-R scoring, caution is warranted when using psychopathy assessments in high-stakes legal decisions. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).

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