Aggression and the Alternative Model for Personality Disorder (AMPD) Level of Personality Functioning and Pathological Personality Facets in a Sample of Incarcerated Adult Males

This study examined associations between aggression and constructs from the Alternative Model for Personality Disorders (AMPD) in a sample of 87 incarcerated adult men. Participants completed self-report measures of personality functioning (Criterion A), pathological personality traits (Criterion B), aggression, and impression management. Pearson correlations indicated that overall personality impairment and multiple pathological traits were significantly associated with aggression. In multivariable regression models, Hostility emerged as the most robust unique predictor of aggression, while overall personality impairment and Risk Taking showed negligible independent effects. These findings were replicated across supplementary analyses controlling for impression management. Overall, the findings align with theoretical models emphasizing hostile affect and antagonistic cognition as proximal mechanisms of aggression and highlight the value of AMPD-derived Hostility assessment within violence risk formulations. Results contribute much-needed data to an understudied field and provide a foundation for future research using larger forensic samples to refine AMPD-based models of aggression.