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John Edens

APS Fellow
Professor
Areas of Speciality
  • Clinical
  • Personality Processes
Contact
  • (979) 845-6097
  • johnedens@tamu.edu
  • PSYC 207
Professional Links
Office Hours, Spring 2024
Tuesdays & Thursdays 2:00-3:30p (By Zoom)
Accepting Students for 2024-2025?
No

Research Interests

  • Forensic Psychology
  • Personality Assessment
  • Psychopathy and Antisocial Conduct
  • Risk Assessment

My research interests broadly span the interaction between psychology and the legal system (which is sometimes referred to as forensic psychology). Mostly this research addresses the utility of psychological data (e.g., tests, evaluation procedures) to answer or inform important mental health and legal questions within the criminal justice system (e.g., violence risk assessment, adjudicative competence, personality assessment within correctional settings). My research also focuses on the development and improvement of psychological assessment techniques and instruments, particularly those focusing on personality measurement in forensic and correctional settings. More specifically in relation to personality variables, of particular interest to me is the construct of psychopathy (also termed psychopathic personality disorder) and its growing impact in forensic and correctional decision-making around the world. My research along these lines has focused on more basic issues related to the assessment and measurement of psychopathic traits, as well as more applied issues such as its appropriate role in evaluating various populations within forensic and correctional settings (e.g., children, minorities) and the potentially stigmatizing effects of the label psychopath. I also conduct research on human aggression, particularly related to the assessment and management of violence risk. This research interest cuts across several areas noted above (e.g., forensic assessment, psychopathy, legal decision-making) and has focused primarily on the clinical utility of various violence risk factors in identifying those most (or least) at risk for engaging in aggressive behavior.

Recent Publications

Edens, J. F., *Penson, B. N., Smith, S. T., & *Ruchensky, J. R. (2019). Examining the utility of the Personality Assessment Screener in three criminal justice samples. Psychological Services, 16, 664-674.

Hopwood, C. J., Kotov, R., Krueger, R. F., Watson, D., Widiger, T, Althoff, R., Zimmermann, J. (2019). Commentary on “The challenge of transforming the diagnostic system of personality disorders.” Journal of Personality Disorders, 1-4. [on-line only]

*Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., Somma, A., Fossati, A., de Ruiter, C., Eisenbarth, H., & Vaughn, M. (2019). Detecting inconsistent responding on the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory—Short Form. Assessment, 26, 465-478.

*Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., *Mowle, E. N., *Rulseh, A., & *Penson, B. N. (2019). Dangerous, depraved, and death-worthy: A meta-analysis of the correlates of perceived psychopathy in jury simulation studies. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 75, 627-643.

*Mowle, E. N., Edens, J. F., *Ruchensky, J. R., & *Penson, B. N. (2019). Triarchic psychopathy and deficits in facial affect recognition. Journal of Personality, 87, 240-251.

Edens, J. F., & Douglas, K. S. (2018). Cross-validation of the Personality Assessment Inventory “Chronic Suicide Risk Index: S_Chron” in a large sample of offenders. Psychiatry Research, 259, 439-441.

*Gatner, D. T., *Blanchard, A. J., Douglas, K. S., Lilienfeld, S. O., & Edens, J. F. (2018). Psychopathy in a multiethnic world: Investigating multiple measures of psychopathy in Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian offenders. Assessment, 25, 206-221.

Hawes, S. W., Byrd, A. L., *Kelley, S. E., Gonzalez, R., Edens, J. F., & Pardini, D. A. (2018). Psychopathic features across development: Assessing longitudinal invariance among Caucasian and African American youths. Journal of Research in Personality, 73, 180-188.

Hopwood, C. J., Kotov, R., Krueger, R. F., Watson, D., Widiger, T, Althoff, R.,…Zimmermann, J. (2018). The time has come for dimensional personality disorder diagnosis. Personality and Mental Health, 12, 82-86.

*Kelley, S. E., van Dongen, J., Donnellan, M. B., Edens, J. F., Eisenbarth, H., Fossati, A., Howner, K., Somma, A., & Sörman, K. (2018). Examination of the Triarchic Assessment Procedure for Inconsistent Responding in six non-English language samples. Psychological Assessment, 30, 610-620.

*Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., *Mowle, E. N., & *Sörman, K. (2018). Self- and informant perceptions of psychopathic traits in relation to the Triarchic model. Journal of Personality, 86, 738-751.

*Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., & Douglas, K. S. (2018). Concurrent validity of the Personality Assessment Screener in a large sample of offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 42, 156-166.

*Penson, B. N., *Ruchensky, J. R., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., Vaughn, M., & Eisenbarth, H. (2018). Development and initial validation of an inconsistent responding scale for the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory. Journal of Personality Disorders, 32, 131-143.

*Penson, B. N., *Ruchensky, J. R., Morey, L. C., & Edens, J. F. (2018). Using the Personality Assessment Inventory Antisocial and Borderline Features scales to predict behavior change: A multisite longitudinal study of youthful offenders. Assessment, 25, 858-866.

Preszler, J., Marcus, D. K., Edens, J. F., & McDermott, B. E. (2018). Network analysis of psychopathy in forensic patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127, 171-182.

*Ruchensky, J. R., Donnellan, M. B., & Edens, J. F. (2018). Development and initial validation of the HEXACO-Triarchic Scales. Psychological Assessment, 30, 1560-1566.

*Ruchensky, J. R., Edens, J. F., Corker, K. S., Donnellan, M. B., Witt, E., & Blonigen, D. M. (2018). Evaluating the structure of psychopathic personality traits: A meta-analysis of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 30, 707-718.

Ruiz, M., Hopwood, C., Morey, L. C., & Edens, J. F., & Cox, J. (2018). Initial development of pathological personality trait domain measures using the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) item pool. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 9, 564-573.

Somma, A., Borroni, S., *Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., & Fossati, A. (2018). Further evidence for the validity of a response inconsistency scale for the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 in Italian community dwelling adolescents, community dwelling adults and clinical adults. Psychological Assessment, 30, 929-940.

Verschuere, B., van Ghesel Grothe, S., Noordhof, A., Waldorp, L., *Watts, A. L., Lilienfeld, S. O., Edens, J. F., & Skeem, J. L. (2018). What symptoms of psychopathy might be central? A network analysis of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in three large samples. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127, 51-65.

Balsis, S., Busch, A. J., Wilfong, K. M., Newman, J. W., & Edens, J. F. (2017). A statistical consideration regarding the threshold of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised. Journal of Personality Assessment, 99, 494-502.

Brislin, S. J., Venables, N. C., Drislane, L. E., Blonigen, D. M., Iacono, W G., Tellegen, A., Edens, J. F., & Patrick, C. J. (2017). Further validation of triarchic psychopathy scales from the Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire: Setting the stage for large-sample
etiological studies. Assessment, 24, 575-590.

Edens, J. F., & Boccaccini, M. T. (2017). Taking forensic mental health assessment ‘out of the lab’ and into ‘the real world’: Introduction to the special issue on the field utility of forensic assessment instruments and procedures. Psychological Assessment, 29, 710-719.

Edens, J. F., & Kelley, S. E. (2017). “Meet the New Boss. Same as the Old Boss:” A commentary on Williams, Wormith, Bonta, and Sitarenios (2017). International Journal of Forensic Mental Health, 16, 23-27.

Edens, J. F., Mowle, E.N., Clark, J. W., & Magyar, M. S. (2017). “A psychopath by any other name?” Jury venireperson perceptions of the DSM-5 “limited prosocial emotions” specifier. Journal of Personality Disorders, 31, 90-109.

Jeandarme, I., Edens, J. F., Habets, P., Bruckers, L., Oei, K., & Bogaerts, S. (2017). Psychopathy Checklist-Revised field validity in prison and hospital settings. Law and Human Behavior, 41, 29-43.

Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., & Morey, L. C. (2017). Convergence of self- and informant reports on the Personality Assessment Screener. Assessment, 24, 999-1007.

Mowle, E. N., Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., Smith, S. T., Wygant, D., & Sellbom, M. (2017). Development of an inconsistent responding scale for the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure. Psychological Assessment, 29, 990-1000.

Ruchensky, J. R., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., & Witt, E. (2017). Examining the reliability and validity of an abbreviated Psychopathic Personality Inventory – Revised (PPI-R) in four samples. Psychological Assessment, 29, 238-244.

Rulseh, A., Edens, J. F., & Cox, J. (2017). Triarchic model personality traits and their impact on mock juror perceptions of a white-collar criminal defendant. Journal of Personality Assessment, 99, 453-464.

Smith, S. T., Cox, J., Mowle, E. N., & Edens, J. F. (2017). Intentional inattention: Detecting feigned Attention Deficit-Hyperactivity Disorder on the Personality Assessment Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 29, 1447-1457.

Edens, J. F., & Douglas, K. S. (2018). Cross-validation of the Personality Assessment Inventory “Chronic Suicide Risk Index: S_Chron” in a large sample of offenders. Psychiatry Research, 259, 439-441.

Gatner, D. T., *lanchard, A. J., Douglas, K. S., Lilienfeld, S. O., & Edens, J. F. (2018). Psychopathy in a multiethnic world: Investigating multiple measures of psychopathy in Hispanic, African American, and Caucasian offenders. Assessment, 25, 206-221.

Hawes, S. W., Byrd, A. L., Kelley, S. E., Gonzalez, R., Edens, J. F., & Pardini, D. A. (2018). Psychopathic features across development: Assessing longitudinal invariance among Caucasian and African American youths. Journal of Research in Personality, 73, 180-188.

Hopwood, C. J., Kotov, R., Krueger, R. F., Watson, D., Widiger, T, Althoff, R.,…Zimmermann, J. (2018). The time has come for dimensional personality disorder diagnosis. Personality and Mental Health, 12, 82-86.

Kelley, S. E., van Dongen, J., Donnellan, M. B., Edens, J. F., Eisenbarth, H., Fossati, A., Howner, K., Somma, A., & Sörman, K. (2018). Examination of the Triarchic Assessment Procedure for Inconsistent Responding in six non-English language samples. Psychological Assessment, 30, 610-620.

Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., Mowle, E. N., & Sörman, K. (2018). Self- and informant perceptions of psychopathic traits in relation to the Triarchic model. Journal of Personality, 86, 738-751.

Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., & Douglas, K. S. (2018). Concurrent validity of the Personality Assessment Screener in a large sample of offenders. Law and Human Behavior, 42, 156-166.

Penson, B. N., Ruchensky, J. R., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., Vaughn, M., & Eisenbarth, H. (2018). Development and initial validation of an inconsistent responding scale for the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory. Journal of Personality Disorders, 32, 131-143.

Penson, B. N., Ruchensky, J. R., Morey, L. C., & Edens, J. F. (2018). Using the Personality Assessment Inventory Antisocial and Borderline Features scales to predict behavior change: A multisite longitudinal study of youthful offenders. Assessment, 25, 858-866.

Preszler, J., Marcus, D. K., Edens, J. F., & McDermott, B. E. (2018). Network analysis of psychopathy in forensic patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127, 171-182.

Ruchensky, J. R., Donnellan, M. B., & Edens, J. F. (2018). Development and initial validation of the HEXACO-Triarchic Scales. Psychological Assessment, 30, 1560-1566.

Ruchensky, J. R., Edens, J. F., Corker, K. S., Donnellan, M. B., Witt, E., & Blonigen, D. M. (2018). Evaluating the structure of psychopathic personality traits: A meta-analysis of the Psychopathic Personality Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 30, 707-718.

Ruiz, M., Hopwood, C., Morey, L. C., & Edens, J. F., & Cox, J. (2018). Initial development of pathological personality trait domain measures using the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) item pool. Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment, 9, 564-573.

Somma, A., Borroni, S., Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., & Fossati, A. (2018). Further evidence for the validity of a response inconsistency scale for the Personality Inventory for DSM-5 in Italian community dwelling adolescents, community dwelling adults and clinical adults. Psychological Assessment, 30, 929-940.

Verschuere, B., van Ghesel Grothe, S., Noordhof, A., Waldorp, L., Watts, A. L., Lilienfeld, S. O., Edens, J. F., & Skeem, J. L. (2018). What symptoms of psychopathy might be central? A network analysis of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in three large samples. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 127, 51-65.

Edens, J. F., Penson, B. N., Smith, S. T., & Ruchensky, J. R. (2019). Examining the utility of the Personality Assessment Screener in three criminal justice samples. Psychological Services, 16, 664-674.
2.12

Hopwood, C. J., Kotov, R., Krueger, R. F., Watson, D., Widiger, T, Althoff, R.,…Zimmermann, J. (2019). Commentary on “The challenge of transforming the diagnostic system of personality disorders.” Journal of Personality Disorders, 1-4.3.80

Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., Donnellan, M. B., Somma, A., Fossati, A., de Ruiter, C., Eisenbarth, H., & Vaughn, M. (2019). Detecting inconsistent responding on the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory—Short Form. Assessment, 26, 465-478.
4.28
Kelley, S. E., Edens, J. F., Mowle, E. N., Rulseh, A., & Penson, B. N. (2019). Dangerous, depraved, and death-worthy: A meta-analysis of the correlates of perceived psychopathy in jury simulation studies. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 75, 627-643.
3.07

Mowle, E. N., Edens, J. F., Ruchensky, J. R., & Penson, B. N. (2019). Triarchic psychopathy and deficits in facial affect recognition. Journal of Personality, 87, 240-251.

Affiliated Research Cluster

Personality Processes. Clinical personality assessment; risk assessment; personality measurement in forensic and correctional settings; psychopathy, aggression, and violence risk.