Latent Structure and Covariates of the Agonistic Continuum

Latent Structure and Covariates of the Agonistic Continuum among community sample and college students NICHOLAS LONGPRÉ, UNIVERSITY OF ROEHAMPTON RAYMOND A. KNIGHT, BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY & JEAN-PIERRE GUAY, UNIVERSITÉ DE MONTRÉAL

Overview of the Talk A. Mapping the Agonistic Continuum from Sex Offenders to Non-Offenders I. Study 1: An extension of Longpré et al. (under review) II. Study 2: A Mturk study III. Study 3: Bullying, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Coercion: Sims-Knight et al. B. The Agonistic Continuum and its Correlates C. Future Directions 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Part A : Mapping the Agonistic Continuum From Sex offenders to Non-Offenders 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Taxon vs Dimension Rape Sexual Coercion BDSM Preferential Rape/ PCD Sexual Murder Sexual Sadism ts? n i o j ing ist ex Non- 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Taxon vs Dimension Knight and colleagues - Agonistic Continuum BDSM Sexual Coercion Rape/ Preferential Rape/ PCD Severe Sexual Sadism - Sexual Murder Sexual Offense Legal #Me. Too 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Agonistic Continuum Ø All results converge to the same conclusion : The Agonistic Continuum is a dimensional construct among sexual offenders ◦ Knight, R. A. , Sims-Knight, J. , & Guay, J. P. (2013). Is a separate diagnostic category defensible for paraphilic coercion? Journal of Criminal Justice, 41, 90 -99. doi: 10. 1016/j. jcrimjus. 2012. 11. 002 ◦ Longpré, N. , Sims-Knight, J. , Neumann, C. , Guay, J. P. , & Knight, R. A. (Under Review). Is Paraphilic Coercion a Different Construct from Sadism or Simply the Lower End of an Agonistic Continuum? Ø Then Reviewer 2 arrived Ø Are those findings restricted to sexual offenders? Ø There must be a qualitative difference between sex offenders and non-offenders 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 1: From College Students to Sex Offenders Ø 550 participants added to the N = 680 from Longpré et al. (under review) Ø 127 college students Ø 261 community individuals Ø 162 non-sexual offenders Ø Merged sample of N = 1280 Ø Taxometric analyses: The mean CCFIs produced with a supplied base rate of 10% and 15% were below the. 50 threshold (ranging from. 410 to. 412) Ø No Natural Boundary emerges, only a continuum – Dimensional Strusture Ø 2 PL IRT analyses: Similar results were observed 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2: MTurk Ø Part of my postdoctoral project at the Knight Lab Ø N = 402 Ø 48 students in psychology at Brandeis University Ø 354 MTurk Ø 264 questions Ø Personality disorders Ø Hypersexuality Ø Psychopathy Ø Vindictive cognitions Ø New Agonistic Scale 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

A New Agonistic Scale Ø 74 items draw from the literature (Sadism, PCD, Sexual Coercion) Ø Ask 5 experts to rate them (1 to 4) Ø Final scale Ø 30 items Ø 0 (never) to 4 (very often) Ø Themes Ø Manipulation, Threat and Scaring Ø Domination, Bondage and Strangling Ø Humiliation Ø Physical Aggression (Cutting, Burning, Beating, Hurting) Ø Torture and Killing 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2: Results Ø Answer: Never, Once, Sometimes, Fairly Often, or Very often Items I have thought about choking someone during sex I have thought of cutting someone with a knife I have tortured animals I have humiliated someone during sex I have hurt people for my own enjoyment I have beaten someone while I was having sex I have sex with someone who didn't want to Students (N = 48) 30. 3% 21. 9% 18. 2% MTurk (N = 354) 21. 6% 12. 2% 4. 1% 6. 5% 9. 9% 4. 2% 3. 0% 7. 2% 8. 2% 6. 5% 13. 9% 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2: Results Exploratory Factor Analyses Ø Four factors A. Physical Violence (ex. I have beaten someone while I was having sex) Ø Beating the victim (Knight et al. , 2013; Longpré et al. , under review) B. Coercion and Power (ex. Making someone do what I want turn me on sexually) Ø PCD (Knight et al. , 2013; Longpré et al. , under review) C. Bondage (ex. I have tied someone up while we were having sex) Ø Bondage (Knight et al. , 2013; Longpré et al. , under review) D. Killing (ex. I have fantasized about killing someone during sex) Ø Desire to Kill the Victim (Knight et al. , 2013; Longpré et al. , under review) 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2: Results Taxometric Analyses Estimated Base Rate 10% Agonistic Scale MAMBAC MAXEIG L-Mode CCFI BR CCFI Mean CCFI . 427 . 12 . 447 . 04 . 454 . 442 Estimated Base Rate 15% Agonistic Scale MAMBAC MAXEIG L-Mode CCFI BR CCFI Mean CCFI . 416 . 12 . 456 . 04 . 424 . 432 BR 10% Correlations: Full Sample 0. 355; Taxon 0. 150; Complement 0. 084 BR 15% Correlations: Full Sample 0. 355; Taxon 0. 190; Complement 0. 062 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2: Results – 2 PL IRT Lower part of the spectrum Items b 1 I have fantasized about dominating someone sexually . 22 I have had sexual thoughts about tying my partner to a bed, legs and arms spread apart . 44 Making someone do what I want turns me on sexually . 57 It turns me on to think about overpowering someone sexually . 65 While having sex, I have used handcuffs, whips, or leathers . 69 I have tied someone up while we were having sex . 78 I have thought about choking someone during sex . 97 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2: Results – 2 PL IRT Upper part of the spectrum Items I have thought about burning someone during sex I have sex with someone who didn't want to have sex with me I have threatened to use physical force to make someone go along with oral sex/ sexual intercourse I have thought about killing someone during sex I have fantasized about killing someone during sex I enjoy seeing other people getting killed I have tortured animals b 1 1. 77 1. 78 1. 80 1. 88 1. 90 1. 97 2. 29 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2 vs Knight et al. (2013) – b 1 comparison Non-sexual Items Pure PCD Bondage/Humiliate Enjoy Hurting/Scaring Serious Sadism/ Torture Sexual Coercion Items r(14) =. 64, p <. 01

Study 3: Bullying, Sexual Harassment and Sexual Coercion - Sims-Knight et al. Ø 576 college students Ø 358 females Ø 218 males Ø Research administrations of the MIDSA Ø Included several measures Ø Bullying Ø Sexual Harassment Ø Agonistic Scale Ø Knight et al. (2013) - Longpré et al. (under review) Ø Thought killing someone during sex 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 3: Results Preliminary Two parameters Item Response Theory Analyses * Ø Lower part of the spectrum Items Making an 'opp-sex-person' do what I want turns me on sexually It turns me on to think about overpowering someone sexually I have had sexual thoughts about tying my partner to a bed, legs and arms spread apart I have thought about forcing someone to have sex I have tied someone up while we were having sex b 1 -. 238. 266. 913 1. 375 1. 445 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 3: Results Preliminary Two parameters Item Response Theory Analyses * Ø Upper part of the spectrum Items I have purposely hurt a girl physically during sex When I had sexual thoughts, I thought about threatening or frightening a female I have beaten a girl while I was having sex with her I have thought about killing someone during sex While having sex I have enjoyed scaring my companion so that she begged me to stop b 1 2. 198 2. 229 2. 753 4. 314 4. 414 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 3 vs Knight et al. (2013) – b 1 comparison Pure PCD Bondage/Humiliate Enjoy Hurting/Scaring Serious Sadism/ Torture r(13) =. 77, p <. 001

Results are Consistent Across Samples College Students N = 127 – Study 1 N = 47 – Study 2 N = 576 – Study 3 Community Individuals/ MTurks N = 261 – Study 2 N = 341 – Study 3 Non-Sex Offenders N = 529 - Knight et al. N = 162 – Study 1 (2013) N = 680 - Longpré et al. (under review) 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Part B : The Agonistic Continuum and its Correlates 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Personality Disorders Sadism ◦ Avoidant and Schizoid (Brittain, 1970; Proulx & Beauregard, 2014; Proulx et al. , 2007) ◦ Psychopathic and Narcissistic (Knight & Guay, 2018; Mokros et al. , 2011; Robertson & Knight, 2014) ◦ Both ? Psychopathic/ Antisocial; 2) Schizoid/ Paraphilic; 3) Psychopathic / Narcissistic (Longpré et al. , 2018) PCD – Hypothesized ◦ Emotional detachment from the suffering of others ? ? ◦ Failure to inhibit sexual arousal when faced with victim resistance ? ? ◦ Psychopathic and Antisocial traits ? ? Agonistic Continuum 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Study 2: MTurk – New Agonistic Scale ØN = 402 Ø 48 students in psychology at Brandeis University Ø 354 MTurk Ø 264 questions Ø Personality traits Ø Psychopathy traits Ø Vindictive cognitions Ø Agonistic Scale Ø Hypersexuality 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Psychopathy/ Antisocial– Agonistic Continuum *. 551 Agonistic Continuum ** . 330** . 14 Meanness Scale Ø I do whatever it takes to get ahead, even if other people are hurt. Ø I like to see people suffer. Vindictive Scale Ø If a woman does not play fair sexually, she deserves to be punished. Ø Men who humiliate sluts are doing us all a favor. Narcissistic Scale Ø I deserve more respect than people give me. Ø I have known people who were thought to be experts, but they didn’t know anymore than I do. 6** 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Psychopathy/ Antisocial– Agonistic Continuum * 2* 0 2. Agonistic Continuum . 150** Lack Perspective . 441** Lack Empathy . 347** Conning Charming . 523** Machiavellianism Impulsivity . 316** . 255** Blame Anger . 42 3** Callous . 206** Affective Reaction 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Avoidant/ Unstable – Agonistic Continuum ** Schizoid Scale Ø I prefer staying along. Ø I have interest in having sex with my partner. (r) Avoidant Scale Ø I fear criticism, disapproval or rejection. Ø I can't relax in new interpersonal situations because of feelings of inadequacy. 9 -. 13 Agonistic Continuum -. 108* -. 3 57* * Borderline Scale Ø I nearly always feel "empty. " Ø Sometimes when I'm stressed out, especially if someone has abandoned me, I can get very paranoid, feel myself "spacing out" or dissociate. 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Emotional Dysregulation – Agonistic Continuum Ø Is seclusion a result of emotional dysregulation components instead of schizoid traits ? ØHigher prevalence of BPD (17. 6%) than APD (15. 2%) or SPD (8. 1%) among sexual murderers (James & Proulx, 2014) and among sadistic offenders (58. 3%) vs non-sadistic (Proulx et al. , 2007) Ø Our results : Agonistic Continuum correlate with Anger, Impulsivity and Affective Reaction but not SPD and APD Ø It’s possible that what Brittain and others have described as APD and SPD was in fact the results of emotional dysregulation Ø See social isolation as a result and not as a cause 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Emotional Dysregulation – Agonistic Continuum Ø This is consistent with Cardona et al. (2019) Ø Internalizing aspects of BPD did not correlate with physical damage Ø Interpersonal violence/impulsivity aspects of BPD correlate with physical damage Ø Most of the items include in our BPD scale load on the Internalizing aspects of BPD Ø Anger scale and Impulsivity scale both correlated with Agonistic Continuum Ø Is BPD inversely correlated to Agonistic Scales? Is it only an artefact of the scale? Ø Need to include items that cover the Interpersonal violence/impulsivity aspects of BPD 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Personality Structure – Agonistic Continuum Ø Meanness Ø Vindictive Ø Machiavellianism Ø Narcissistic Ø Antisocial Ø PCL-R - Factor 1 Ø PCL-R - Factor 2 Ø Schizoid Ø Avoidant Agonistic Continuum Ø Borderline 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Part C : Future Directions 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

The Roots of the Agonistic Continuum Ø The Agonistic Continuum have been empirically related to several psychological constructs and personality traits Ø Results are similar in research and clinical samples Ø Results are similar for both offenders and non offenders Ø Results are similar for both Males and Females Ø Results are not sample related/ Gender related Ø What explains the different levels found in the Agonistic Continuum ? Ø SEM models provide some answers Ø The level of trauma during childhood Ø Coping Strategies Ø How these aversive experiences during childhood are crystallise with sexuality during adolescence 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Men vs Women Ø Etiological Factors Ø Are they the same for both men and women ? Ø How aversive experiences during childhood are crystallise with sexuality? Ø Is it the same for both men and women ? Ø Is the relationship between Hypersexuality and the Agonistic Continuum the same for both men and women ? Ø Personality Structures Ø Are the correlates the same for both men and women ? Ø We already have fractional results Ø The aim is to cross-validated our findings across samples, genders and scales 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

DSM : Distinguish PCD and Sadism Ø The idea of creating separate entities for PCD and Sadism is not supported by the empirical evidence Ø Results from Study 1, 2, and 3 presented in this talk are in accordance with those obtained by Knight et al. (2013) and Longpré et al. (2018) Ø And with results found in taxometric studies on sadism (Longpre et al. , 2018; Mokros et al. , 2014) Ø All results are converging to the same conclusion : Ø No Natural Boundaries emerge Ø Therefore, future DSM should stop focusing on creating a distinct entity for PCD and take into account all these results Ø Paraphilia, Otherwise Specified, nonconsent should not be admissible as a mental disorder diagnosis in trials for the civil commitment of those who have committed sexual offences 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Special Thanks Collaborators Student Collaborators Financial Support Raymond A. Knight Rui Du Department of Psychology Judith E. Sims-Knight Franklyn Graham Jean-Pierre Guay Diane Rohrer Research Advisory Group (RAG) Craig Neumann University of Roehampton David Thornton 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.

Dr Nicholas Longpré Lecturer Modules Convenor - BSc & MSc Forensic Psychology Department of Psychology University of Roehampton - London Email: nicholas. longpre@roehampton. ac. uk Longpré, N. , Sims-Knight, J. E. , Neumann, C. , Guay, J. P. , & Knight, R. A. (Under Review). Is Paraphilic Coercion a Different Construct from Sadism or Simply the Lower End of an Agonistic Continuum? 9 th Biennial Conference of the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ANZATSA), Brisbane, AU, July 24 -26.