RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Resting heart rate and psychopathy: Findings from the Add Health Survey
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
DO 10.1101/205005
A1 Kavish, Nicholas A
A1 Fu, Qiang
A1 Vaughn, Michael
A1 Qian, Zhengmin
A1 Boutwell, Brian
YR 2018
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2018/06/13/205005.abstract
AB Despite the prior linkages of low resting heart rate to antisocial behavior broadly defined, less work has been done examining possible associations between heart rate to psychopathic traits. The small body of research on the topic that has been conducted so far seems to suggest an inverse relationship between the two constructs. A smaller number of studies have found the opposite result, however, and some of the previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes and unrepresentative samples. The current study attempts to help clarify the relationship between resting heart rate and psychopathic traits in a large, nationally representative sample (analytical N ranged from 14,173-14,220) using an alternative measure of psychopathic traits that is less focused on antisocial processes, and rooted in personality traits. No significant relationship between heart rate and psychopathic traits, or heart rate and a measure of cold heartedness, was found after controlling for age, sex, and race. Implications of the findings, study limitations, and directions for future research are discussed.