Antisocial Personality Disorder: Sex Differences in Brain Responses to Fear-Evoking StimuliErin W. HagemanJane Addams College of Social WorkSOCW 527 Psychological TraumaJoshua P. Mersky13 March 2014Summary of Research Article #1Anton, ME, Baskin-Sommers, AR, Vitale, JE, Curtin, JJ, & Newman, JP (2012). Differential effects of psychopathy and antisocial personality disorder symptoms on cognitive and fear processing in female offenders. Cognitive, Affective, & Behavioral Neuroscience, 12(4), 761-776.Introduction This article aimed to demonstrate the differences between female offenders with psychopathic traits and those with antisocial personality disorder. To do this, a battery of tests was administered to allow laboratory observations of cognitive and affective responses to fear-inducing stimuli in three distinct situations. This situational variation allowed us to observe how offenders react differently to stressful situations depending on task demands. Variation in situations created differential responses to violent images depending on the importance of psychopathy versus ASPD. Main Research Questions This study aimed to demonstrate variations between the cognitive and affective responses of female offenders with psychopathic and antisocial tendencies. It was hypothesized that female offenders exhibiting these different psychological symptoms would respond differently to fear-provoking situations. The proposed hypotheses were not intended to guess at differences that might arise between these disorders. Theoretical Framework Existing research suggests that the fear-potentiated startle response measures the interaction between physical...... middle of article ......rch could begin to explore the prevalence of this disorder in the female population. This would also have potential implications for the assessment and treatment of conduct disorders in the adolescent population. Currently, it appears that very little is known about the etiology and presentation of antisocial behavior in women, whereas there is much more detailed research on ASPD in men. This could be because previous literature on ASPD did not take into account possible differences in the nature and presentation of female antisocial behavior and assumed that this disorder simply occurred less in females. As research in this area develops, our knowledge of gender differences within antisocial personality disorder will increase and more accurate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment can be provided to the female population...