Abstract
The Antisocial Personality Questionnaire is a 125-item inventory that measures eight primary traits (self-control, self-esteem, avoidance, paranoid suspicion. resentment, aggression, deviance, extraversion) and two higher-order dimensions (impulsivity-aggression versus control, withdrawal versus sociability). The questionnaire was developed for assessing dangerous mentally disordered offenders, and four profile patterns of primary psychopath, secondary psychopath, controlled personalities, and inhibited personalities have been consistently identified in this population. The derivation of the APQ from an earlier questionnaire is described, and evidence for its validity presented. Although developed with violent offenders, the APQ is likely to be of use in discriminating within offender populations generally.