Psychometric Profiles of Violent Offenders with Histories of Psychostimulant Psychosis: A Pilot Study

In an examination of the psychometric characteristics of violent drug abusers, Clinical Analysis Questionnaire (CAQ) profiles were obtained from a population of incarcerated male offenders who had committed homicide under chronic psychostimulant influence. They were abstinent at time of assessment. Comparison of the profiles of twenty-nine previous chronic cocaine abusers with nine previous methamphetamine abusers revealed marked similarities of profile elevation in both groups. However, greater scale elevations were evident for previous cocaine abusers on Factors Q1 (Radicalism), D 1 (Hypochondriasis), D7 (Boredom & Withdrawal) and on Second-Order Factors In (Independence), D (Depression) and P (Psychoticism). When the CAQ profiles of the cocaine-only group were compared with those of a similarly homicidal population that abused both cocaine and a depressant (the “speedball” pattern, n=8), no marked Clinical Factor or Second-Order differences between the two were found. The two groups differed only in the speedballer’s lower Factor A (Warmth) and lower Factor L (suspiciousness) scores.