A multi-wave cross-lagged regression analysis of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory and Self-Reported Offending

Abstract

PurposeThis study sought to clarify the relationship between psychopathy and self-reported offending using a measure of psychopathy that did not directly assess criminal behavior; i.e., the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI). MethodsCross-lagged correlations between five pairs of waves from the Pathways to Desistance study were used to assess the psychopathy-offending relationship in 1354 (1170 male, 184 female) previously adjudicated delinquents. Structural equation modeling was used to assess these five pairs of waves, controlling for important demographic and criminological covariates and the outcome’s antecedent. ResultsAll five zero-order cross-lagged YPI→offending correlations and all five zero-order cross-lagged offending→YPI correlations were significant. All five YPI→offending regressions and all five offending→YPI regressions were significant, after controlling for the demographic/criminological/antecedent variables, although there were no significant differences between the two paths (YPI→offending vs. offending→YPI). All ten cross-lagged regressions were significant in male participants but only three of the regressions were significant in females. ConclusionsPsychopathy, as measured by the YPI, and self-reported offending are reciprocally related, at least in boys and young men, such that offending is as likely to shape psychopathy as psychopathy is to shape offending.