Nipping psychopathy in the bud: An examination of the convergent, predictive and theoretical utility of the PCL-YV among adolescent girls

Over the last decade rates of violence among adolescent girls have increased. Within high-risk contexts, urgent calls for assessment options have resulted in the extension of adult and male-based instruments to adolescent females in spite of the absence of strong empirical support. The current study evaluates the downward extension of psychopathy within a population of female juvenile offenders (N=125). The convergent and predictive validity of the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (PCL-YV) were evaluated within a structural equation modeling (SEM) framework. Results indicated that while a specific component of psychopathy, deficient affective experience, was related to aggression, the effect was negated once victimization experiences were entered into the models. In addition, PCL-YV scores were not predictive of future offending, while victimization experiences significantly increased the odds of re-offending. Implications for research, policy, and clinical practice are discussed

Exposure to maternal versus paternal partner violence, PTSD and aggression in adolescent girls and boys

Adolescents who witness interparental violence (IPV) are at increased risk for perpetrating aggressive acts. They are also at risk for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In this study, we examined the relation between exposure to maternal vs. paternal physical IPV and adolescent girls\u27 and boys\u27 aggressive behavior toward mothers, fathers, friends, and romantic partners. We also assessed the influence of PTSD (as assessed by the Diagnostic Interview for Children and Adolescents-IV (DICA-IV)) on the relation between exposure to IPV and aggressive behavior. Participants were 63 girls and 49 boys, ages 13-18, consecutively admitted to a youth correctional facility or assessment facility designated to serve aggressive and delinquent youth. Structural equation modeling was used to estimate unique relations between exposure to maternal vs. paternal IPV and youth aggression in relationships. Girls who observed their mothers\u27 aggressive behavior toward partners were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Similarly, boys who witnessed their fathers\u27 aggression were significantly more aggressive toward friends. Adolescent girls and boys who observed aggression by mothers toward partners reported significantly higher levels of aggression toward their romantic partners. Approximately one third of our sample met PTSD criteria; the relation between exposure to parental IPV and aggression was stronger for individuals who met criteria for PTSD. The implications of understanding the relations between parents\u27 and their daughters\u27 and sons\u27 use of aggression are discussed within the context of providing support for families in breaking intergenerational patterns of violence and aggression

Challenges in the assessment of aggression in high-risk youth: Testing the fit of the Form-Function Aggression Measure

Recent efforts have focused on disentangling the forms (e.g., overt and relational) and functions (e.g., instrumental and reactive) of aggression. The Form-Function Aggression Measure (FFAM; Little, Jones, Henrich, & Hawley, 2003) shows promise in this regard; however, it is a new measure and its psychometric properties across different populations are unknown. The current study tested the underlying structure of the FFAM using confirmatory factor analysis in male and female high-risk adolescents (n= 381). Results indicated that none of the models tested demonstrated an acceptable fit in either males or females. However, a 6-factor model comprised of pure-overt, reactive-overt, instrumental-overt, pure-relational, reactive-relational, and instrumental-relational subtypes provided an improved fit relative to other models in both males and females. A multi-form, multi-function model equivalent to the model proposed by Little and colleagues (2003) also evidenced a relatively improved fit, highlighting the utility of disentangling form from function when examining aggression. Implications and challenges for assessing the forms and functions of aggression among high-risk adolescents are discussed

An optimization approach coupling pre-processing with model regression for enhanced chemometrics

Chemometric methods are broadly used in the chemical and biochemical sectors. Typically, derivation of a regression model follows data preprocessing in a sequential manner. Yet, preprocessing can significantly influence the regression model and eventually its predictive ability. In this work, we investigate the coupling of preprocessing and model parameter estimation by incorporating them simultaneously in an optimization step. Common model selection techniques rely almost exclusively on the performance of some accuracy metric, yet having a quantitative metric for model robustness can prolong model up-time. Our approach is applied to optimize for model accuracy and robustness. This requires the introduction of a novel mathematical definition for robustness. We test our method in a simulated set up and with industrial case studies from multivariate calibration. The results highlight the importance of both accuracy and robustness properties and illustrate the potential of the proposed optimization approach toward automating the generation of efficient chemometric models

Probabilistic predictions for partial least squares using bootstrap

Modeling the uncertainty in partial least squares (PLS) is made difficult because of the nonlinear effect of the observed data on the latent space that the method finds. We present an approach, based on bootstrapping, that automatically accounts for these nonlinearities in the parameter uncertainty, allowing us to equally well represent confidence intervals for points lying close to or far away from the latent space. To show the opportunities of this approach, we develop applications in determining the Design Space for industrial processes and model the uncertainty of spectroscopy data. Our results show the benefits of our method for accounting for uncertainty far from the latent space for the purposes of Design Space identification, and match the performance of well established methods for spectroscopy data

Language and social/emotional problems identified at a universal developmental assessment at 30 months

Non peer reviewedPublisher PD

Do children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms become socially isolated? Longitudinal within-person associations in a nationally representative cohort

Objective This study examined longitudinal associations between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms and social isolation across childhood. The study tested the direction of this association across time, while accounting for preexisting characteristics, and assessed whether this association varied by ADHD presentation, informant, sex, and socioeconomic status. Method Participants included 2,232 children from the Environmental Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study. ADHD symptoms and social isolation were measured at ages 5, 7, 10, and 12. Random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were used to assess the directionality of the association across childhood. Results Children with increased ADHD symptoms were consistently at increased risk of becoming socially isolated later in childhood, over and above stable characteristics (β = .05-.08). These longitudinal associations were not bidirectional; isolated children were not at risk of worsening ADHD symptoms later on. Children with hyperactive ADHD presentation were more likely to become isolated, compared with inattentive presentation. This was evident in the school setting, as observed by teachers, but not by mothers at home. Conclusion The study findings highlight the importance of enhancing peer social support and inclusion for children with ADHD, particularly in school settings. This study adds explanatory value beyond traditional longitudinal methods, as the results represent how individual children change over time, relative to their own preexisting characteristics