Assessment of the Affective Dimensions of Psychopathy with the Danish version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits among Incarcerated Boys: A study of Reliability, Criterion Validity, and Construct Validity

Background: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been found to index an important subgroup of antisocial youth who are at high risk for developing psychopathic personality pathology, and for becoming severe and persistent offenders. On the basis of such research findings, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, have included a “with limited prosocial emotions” specifier in the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorder to designate a subtype with high levels of CU traits. This creates the need for psychometrically sound measures for the assessment of these traits. The self-report questionnaire Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) was designed to provide an efficient, reliable, and valid measure of CU traits among youth populations. Method: Eighty Danish adolescent boys between the ages of 15 to 18 years in secure institutions were assessed concurrently with the ICU, the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV), self-report measures of aggression and empathy, and ratings of psychosocial problems. Approximately nine days later, the ICU was readministered in a subset of the sample (n = 40) to examine test-retest reliability. Results: Internal consistency was satisfactory, and test-retest reliability was excellent. Concurrent validity associations with the PCL:YV ranged from moderate to high. The ICU displayed excellent discriminative validity for identifying persons who displayed high levels of psychopathic traits. CU traits were also found to be associated with psychosocial impairments, aggression, and reduced empathy. Conclusions: Overall, these findings support the reliability; construct validity, and criterion validity of the ICU

Behind the confession: Relating false confession, interrogative compliance, personality traits, and psychopathy

The present study further supports the established notion that personality traits contribute to the phenomenon of false confessions and compliance in an interrogative setting. Furthermore, the study provides an investigation into the more recent interest in the potential effect of psychopathic traits in this context. A sample of university students (N = 607) completed questionnaires measuring psychopathic traits, interrogative compliance, and the big five personality factors. Of these, only 4.9% (n=30) claimed to have falsely confessed to an academic or criminal offense, with no participant taking the blame for both types of offense. Across measures the big five personality traits were the strongest predictors of compliance. The five personality traits accounted for 17.9 % of the total variance in compliance, with neuroticism being the strongest predictor, followed by openness and agreeableness. Psychopathy accounted for 3.3% of variance, with the lifestyle facet being the only significant predictor. After controlling for the big five personality factors, psychopathy only accounted for a small percentage of interrogative compliance, indicating that interrogators should take into account a person’s personality traits during the interrogation.N/

Emotion and psychopathy: a three-component analysis

The study was designed to examine the hypothesis that psychopathy is associated with an affective deficit. Subjects were 42 incarcerated offenders divided into nonpsychopathic and psychopathic groups based on their scores on the Hare Revised Psychopathy Checklist (Hare, 1991). Facial expressions, central and peripheral physiological activity, and subjective ratings of affective valence and arousal were measured during exposure to a series of slides and film clips designed to elicit either positive or negative affective states. The results indicate that psychopaths do not differ from criminal controls in their affective self-report, autonomic nervous system response, or observed facial expressions to emotional stimuli. However, with respect to cerebral asymmetry, psychopaths failed to show relative right frontal activation during exposure to the disgust film. This result is discussed in relation to recent attempts to explain psychopathy in terms of lateralized cerebral dysfunction.Arts, Faculty ofPsychology, Department ofGraduat

The Validity of the Risk-Sophistication-Treatment Inventory-Abbreviated (RSTI-A): Initial Evidence In Support of a Measure Designed for Juvenile Evaluations

The current study was the first to investigate the convergent validity of the Risk-Sophistication- Treatment Inventory-Abbreviated (RSTI-A; Salekin, 2012). Adolescent offenders (N = 63) were administered the RSTI-A and completed the RSTI-Self-Report (RSTI-SR; Iselin & Salekin, 2008) and measures related to violence, criminality, psychopathy, and psychosocial and emotional adjustment. The Risk for Offending, Autonomy, Criminal Sophistication, and Motivation to Change subscales were related to corresponding RSTI-SR scales. The incremental validity of RSTI-A Violent and Aggressive Tendencies and Planned and Extensive Criminality subscales to assess independent measures of aggression and delinquency above traditional adult-court transfer criteria and other risk measures was also supported. These findings provide initial evidence suggesting that the RSTI-A can be used as a research tool to assess multiple aspects of risk salient to disposition and transfer decision making, as well as recidivism and long-term offending patterns. However, further research is needed, as the measure is in the early phases of its development

Validity of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory–Short Version in Justice-Involved and At-Risk Adolescents

The current study examined the reliability and validity of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory–Short Version (YPI-S) in two different samples of at-risk adolescents enrolled in a residential program (n = 160) and at a detention facility (n = 60) in the United States. YPI-S scores displayed adequate internal consistency and were moderately associated with concurrent scales on other self-report psychopathy measures and externalizing behaviors. YPI-S scores were moderately related to interviewer-ratings of the construct using the four-factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version. Findings suggest that the YPI-S may be a clinically useful and valid tool for the assessment of psychopathic traits in juvenile settings. This may be particularly true given the differential predictive utility of each of its dimensions

Validity of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory–Short Version in Justice-Involved and At-Risk Adolescents

The current study examined the reliability and validity of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory–Short Version (YPI-S) in two different samples of at-risk adolescents enrolled in a residential program (n = 160) and at a detention facility (n = 60) in the United States. YPI-S scores displayed adequate internal consistency and were moderately associated with concurrent scales on other self-report psychopathy measures and externalizing behaviors. YPI-S scores were moderately related to interviewer-ratings of the construct using the four-factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version. Findings suggest that the YPI-S may be a clinically useful and valid tool for the assessment of psychopathic traits in juvenile settings. This may be particularly true given the differential predictive utility of each of its dimensions