Lleida holds the 7th Conference on Psychopathy focusing on the treatment of the disorder in children to prevent its appearance in adulthood

The auditorium of the Centre for Cultures and Cross-Border Cooperation of the University of Lleida (UdL) hosted the VII Psychopathy Conference (www.jornadapsicopatia.com), jointly organised by Gestión de Servicios Sanitarios (GSS) and Sant Joan de Déu Terres de Lleida (SJD). Since 2013, when the first edition of the conference was held, interest in it has been increasing, reaching 190 participants this year. The conference is aimed at professionals from all areas that may be directly or indirectly related to clinical and/or forensic assessment and research into psychopathy, and is the only one held on this subject in Catalonia and Spain.

The conference was opened by Rosa Pérez, manager of the Lleida Health Region, Josep Tristany, director of the Director Plan for Mental Health and Addictions of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Montserrat Rué, Vice-Rector for Students and Employability of the University of Lleida (UdL) and by the representatives of the Psychiatry Services of the two organising entities, Jordi Blanch, Director of the Mental Health and Addictions Services of Gestión de Servicios Sanitarios (GSS), and Ester Castan, Medical Director of Sant Joan de Déu Terres de Lleida.

The programme featured speakers of national and international renown in the field of psychopathy who provided an integrated view of this disorder from the point of view of research and treatment. Jesús Sanz Fernández, Professor of Personality Psychology at the Complutense University of Madrid, gave the lecture 'How many psychopaths are there among us', on the prevalence of psychopathy in the general population. For her part, Anastasya Ivanova, lecturer in the Department of Psychiatry and Legal Medicine at the Institute of Neurosciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), focused on the advances in the cognitive and emotional correlates of psychopathic triggers, and their implications for the treatment of children and young people. A round table of professionals who were involved in the arrest, evaluation and trial of a repeat psychopathic criminal, has served to discuss psychopathy from other points of view, highlighting the importance of intervention at an early age to prevent these behaviours in adulthood.