Abstract

BackgroundIn general psychiatric services, cost-benefit screening instruments for psychopathic traits in adolescents are needed. The aim of the present study was to study the psychometric properties of the Finnish versions of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI) and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD-SR) in community youth. As gender-specific differences exist in psychopathic traits, we analyzed the data separately in girls and boys.MethodsThe YPI and the APSD-SR were administered to 372 9th graders (174 boys and 198 girls) with a mean age of 15.06 years (SD 0.28). Cronbach’s alphas were used to study internal consistency. The factor structures of the self-assessments were studied using both Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Principal Component Analysis (PCA).ResultsIn both self-assessments, boys scored significantly higher in the total scores, Interpersonal and Affective dimension scores as well as in most sub-dimensions. In the YPI, the alpha values for total and dimensional scores ranged from 0.55 to 0.91 in boys and from 0.74 to 0.89 in girls and, in the APSD-SR, respectively, from 0.38 to 0.78 and from 0.29 to 0.78. In CFA, the three-factor model produced poor fit for both self-assessments. For the ten sub-dimensions of the YPI, the PCA suggested two factors. Extending the model into three components showed sub-dimension loadings according to the original dimensions. For the APSD-SR, the PCA revealed a five-factor structure in the male sample and a six-factor one in the female group. When limiting the model to a three factor- model, we obtained a structure, which resembled the original dimensions.ConclusionsBoth the YPI and the APSD-SR are promising tools of screening for psychopathic features in Finnish community youth. The YPI turned out to be slightly better than the APSD- SR in both reliability and factor structure. However, the original three-factor models did not find support. Both self-assessments were somewhat weak for tapping the callous-unemotional traits of the psychopathic character, but, again, the YPI worked better than the ASPD-SR. Both self-assessments revealed significant gender differences in psychopathic character traits.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13034-015-0047-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights

  • In general psychiatric services, cost-benefit screening instruments for psychopathic traits in adolescents are needed

  • According to the current conception, psychopathic traits are a continuum of features that each individual exhibits to a certain extent, and psychopathy is a malicious conceptualization of the extremes of normal personality traits [1, 2]

  • The aim of the present study was to study the psychometric properties of the Finnish versions of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI) and the Antisocial Process Screening Device - Self Report (APSD-SR) in Finnish community youth

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Summary

Introduction

Cost-benefit screening instruments for psychopathic traits in adolescents are needed. A personality trait is a more or less stable way of experiencing and perceiving oneself and one’s surroundings, as well as relating to others. Youth with elevated psychopathic traits display more instrumental and premeditated aggression compared to other adolescents with severe conduct problems [3]. Psychopathic traits are associated with an earlier onset to severe conduct problems [9]. Psychopathic traits in adolescents are strongly related to various mental disorders [10] and drug use [11]. Poor treatment compliance and a high drop-out rate in mental health services have been linked to high traits of psychopathy [12]. The real challenge for the mental health services is that they should be able to detect these adolescents

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