A new 14-item scale for antisocial personality disorder

The SEPBA-APD aims to bridge categorical and dimensional approaches to diagnosing ASPD.

Researchers developed and tested a new 14-item questionnaire called the SEPBA-APD for measuring antisocial personality disorder, designed to bridge two different ways psychologists currently diagnose personality disorders: the traditional checklist-style DSM-5 criteria and newer dimensional models (AMPD and HiTOP) that treat traits as existing on a spectrum rather than simply present or absent. They tested it on 600 people from the general community and 149 incarcerated individuals. The scale held up well statistically, showing strong internal consistency and good ability to distinguish people with antisocial traits from those without (with accuracy scores in the 85 to 89% range, which is considered strong for psychological diagnostic accuracy). The bigger picture: this gives clinicians and researchers a brief, validated tool that doesn't force them to choose between "do you have ASPD or not" and "how much ASPD-like traits do you have," letting them capture both at once.