PERSPECTIVE article
Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Personality Disorders
This article is part of the Research TopicThe Dark Tetrad of Personality - Psychopathy, Narcissism, Machiavellianism, and Sadism, and their Relationship with Psychopathological and Health-Promoting FactorsView all 11 articles
PSYCHOPATHY: A NEGLECTED PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM
Provisionally accepted
- 1Private Practice, San Francisco, United States
- 2Georgia State University, Atlanta, United States
- 3Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, United States
- 4Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science Chicago Medical School, North Chicago, United States
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Although psychopathy has been widely studied within criminal justice contexts, its impact on society is rarely considered in public health contexts. Even so, evidence strongly implicates psychopathic traits in substantial costs (not just fiscal) to society. Individuals with psychopathic features commonly hurt those with whom they have relationships in important ways, including through abuse, manipulation, deception and, often, violence. We review the empirical evidence linking psychopathic traits to three recognized public health problems: substance misuse, sexual risk behavior, and violence. Then, we argue that the evidence suggesting robust links between psychopathic traits and these known public health problems warrant the recognition of psychopathy as a public health concern in its own right. We argue that failing to consider psychopathy through a public health lens will slow research progress and the development of prevention strategies. Implications for public policy are considered.
Keywords: Psychopathic, substance misuse, sexual risk, Violence, Public Health
Received: 30 Jun 2025; Accepted: 12 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chinchilla, Reidy and Kosson. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: David S. Kosson, david.kosson@rosalindfranklin.edu
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