Abstract
The Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) was designed to assess psychopathic traits in adolescents. However, there exists limited evidence for the factor structure and psychometric properties of the YPI when used with Chinese detained juveniles. The present study aimed to examine the factor structure and construct validity of the YPI and its shortened version (YPI-S) in a sample of 607 Chinese 14- to 22-year-old detained boys (M = 17.15, SD = 1.09). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed a bifactor model which best fit the data at the subscale level for the YPI, and at the item level for the YPI-S. The internal consistency of the YPI and YPI-S scores ranged from marginal to good. Both the YPI and YPI-S total and factor scores correlated positively with the APSD, an alternative psychopathic measure, as well as with proactive and reactive aggression, and correlated negatively with affective and cognitive empathy. Overall, the YPI and YPI-S are shown to be practical and valid assessment tools to measure psychopathic traits in Chinese detained youths.
Highlights
Psychopathy or psychopathic personality is a multifaceted personality disorder which has, to date, obtained considerable attention in both clinical and forensic settings
The main aim of the current study is to examine the psychometric properties of the Chinese version of both the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and its abbreviated form, the YPI and its shortened version (YPI-S), among a forensic sample of incarcerated male youths
In line with a previous study using a Chinese community sample (Wang et al, 2017), the bifactor structure of the YPI at the subscale level and the bifactor structure of the YPI-S at the item level achieved an adequate fit to this data
Summary
Psychopathy or psychopathic personality is a multifaceted personality disorder which has, to date, obtained considerable attention in both clinical and forensic settings. It has been noted that juveniles with a high measurement of psychopathic traits tend to display severe conduct problems and antisocial behavior, indulging in substance use and engaging in earlier criminal careers (e.g., Christian et al, 1997; Hare and Neumann, 2005). As psychopathic offenders, these youth exhibit associations with institutional violence (Brandt et al, 1997) and a resistance to rehabilitation efforts, resulting in a higher prevalence of recidivism (Hare, 2003; Rice and Harris, 2013). Youth incarceration facilities often lack the financial resources necessary for expert practitioners to carry out comprehensive evaluations on all potentially
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