Higher PCL Research Articles

Psychopathy Scores Predict Recidivism in High-risk Youth: A Five-year Follow-up Study

Psychopathic traits have been associated with rearrest in adolescents involved in the criminal legal system. Much of the prior work has focused on White samples, short follow-up windows, and relatively low-risk youth. The current study aimed to evaluate the utility of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) for predicting general and violent felony recidivism in a large sample of high-risk, predominantly Hispanic/Latino, male adolescents (n = 254) with a five-year follow-up period. Results indicated higher PCL:YV scores and lower full-scale estimated IQ scores were significantly associated with a shorter time to felony and violent felony rearrest. These effects generalized to Hispanic/Latino adolescents (n = 193)—a group that faces disproportionate risk of being detained or committed to juvenile correctional facilities in the U.S. These results suggest that expert-rated measures of psychopathic traits and IQ are reliable predictors of subsequent felony and violent felony rearrest among high-risk male adolescents.

Psychopathy, Neuroticism, and Abusive Behavior in Low Risk Child Sex Offenders

ABSTRACTPersonality traits are considered as an important aspect in the assessment of child sex offenders (CSOs). The current study sought to elucidate the association between neuroticism, psychopathy, and abusive behavior in low risk CSOs. 43 pedophilic CSOs and 21 controls (CTLs) completed the NEO-Personality Inventory-Revised (NEO-PI-R), Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV), and Multiphasic Sex Inventory (MSI). Our results revealed small differences in PCL scores between CSOs and CTLs, with comparatively low levels of psychopathy in both groups. Higher levels of neuroticism were associated with higher PCL scores, in both CSOs and CTLs. However, higher PCL scores in CSOs did not correlate with higher MSI total scores on the subscale child molest. These findings suggest an ambiguous role of psychopathy in CSOs: higher levels of psychopathy co-occur with higher levels of neuroticism, but psychopathy does apparently not modulate abusive behavior, at least not in low risk offenders, as currently investigated.

Postpartum psychological distress after emergency team response during childbirth

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a protocol determining the relationship between emergency team response (ETR) during childbirth and acute stress disorder (ASD) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms.Methods: In a prospective, observational, cohort design, women experiencing ETR during childbirth were approached and recruited on postpartum day-1 and followed for six weeks. Demographics, obstetric and birth characteristics, ASD scores and PTSD scores (by Impact of Events Scale, IES and PCL-civilian) were recorded. Recruitment and retention rates were recorded, and scores were compared to women who did not experience ETR.Results: Three hundred sixty-nine were approached and 249 were enrolled (67.5% recruitment rate). One hundred twenty-five completed all procedures (50.2% retention). Twenty experienced ETR (3.5% event rate), 12 enrolled (60.0% recruitment rate) and 8 completed the study (66.7% retention). The ETR group had higher PCL and IES scores (PCL: ETR median 12, non-ETR median 2, p = .08; IES: ETR median 22.5, non-ETR median 20, p = .08). ASD scores were similar between groups.Conclusions: Methodology investigating the link between ETR and postpartum psychological distress is feasible and acceptable. A relationship between ETR and PTSD symptoms appears to exist, with ETR being associated with higher PTSD scores compared to non-ETR childbirths. Methods that incorporate awareness of the unique concerns of vulnerable populations are needed.

An Exploration of Responsivity among Violent Offenders: Predicting Access to Treatment, Treatment Engagement and Programme Completion

This retrospective archival study examines whether pre-treatment responsivity characteristics influence access to, engagement in, and completion of a violent offender treatment programme. The participants are 115 violent offenders referred for a group-based multi-module treatment programme in medium- and high-security correctional facilities in Victoria, Australia. The case files for each participant were reviewed and information regarding responsivity factors and responses to treatment were gathered. Responsivity characteristics include psychopathy (Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version; PCL:SV), denial and minimisation (Denial and Minimisation Checklist – Third Edition; DMCL-III), and measures of motivation to engage in treatment and guilt and shame associated with violent offending. Engagement was scored using the Response to Treatment Scale. Offenders with higher PCL:SV Factor 2 scores were less likely to be offered a place in the programme and offenders with greater external pressure or motivation to participate in treatment were more likely to commence treatment. Psychopathy and pre-treatment denial and minimisation of offending are related to poorer engagement in treatment; feelings of guilt and shame, along with motivation to participate in treatment, are positively associated with engagement. Predictors of treatment completion include external motivators promoting participation in treatment, within-treatment behaviours (e.g. inappropriate or disruptive behaviour), and psychopathy.

Longitudinal Study of Small Solute Transport and Peritoneal Protein Clearance in Peritoneal Dialysis Patients

Peritoneal protein clearance (Pcl) is determined by both effective (small pores) membrane area and relative capillary leakiness (large pores). It is not known how these two components change with duration of peritoneal dialysis (PD) in the context of progressive membrane injury and differential attrition of patients with higher Pcl, which has been associated with increased mortality risk in several studies. Patients treated continuously from 2000 to 2011 for a minimum of 4 years were selected from the longitudinal prospective Stoke PD Study. Pcl, membrane area (peritoneal solute transport rate [PSTR]), dialysis prescription, and residual renal function were measured every 6 months, along with comorbidity and peritonitis events. Multilevel multivariate analysis was used to determine associations with Pcl over time, taking into account within-subject correlations. From 280 incident patients, 335 datasets were analyzed from 49 patients receiving treatment for 4 years. Pcl correlated with PSTR at baseline (R=0.61; P<0.01), but over time there was progressive uncoupling of this relationship (year 4, R=0.28; P=0.05) with increasing PSTR (0.66-0.74; P<0.01) and stable Pcl (78.4-81.9 ml/d; P=0.7). Multivariate analysis found that age, PSTR, daily ultrafiltration, and sodium removal were significant predictors of Pcl when adjusted for sex, comorbidity, glucose exposure, and residual renal function. Peritonitis was associated with increased PSTR but a similar pattern of uncoupling. There is a progressive dissociation of the small- and large-pore pathways with time on PD, which would be in keeping with a switch from local inflammation early on to progressive fibrosis, combined with increased vascular surface area. Measuring longitudinal changes in Pcl may complement membrane function tests used to monitor progressive injury.

Preparation of diblock copolymers consisting of methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) and poly(ε‐caprolactone)/poly(L‐lactide) and their degradation property

AbstractMethoxy poly(ethylene glycol)‐b‐poly(ε‐caprolactone) (MPEG‐PCL) or MPEG‐b‐poly(L‐lactide) (MPEG‐PLLA) diblock copolymers were prepared by the polymerization of CL or LA, using MPEG as an initiator in the presence of stannous octoate. MPEG‐b‐poly(ε‐caprolactone‐ran‐L‐lactide) (MPEG‐PCLA) diblock copolymers with different chemical composition of PCL and PLLA were also prepared by adjusting the amount of CL and LA from MPEG in the presence of stannous octoate. In degradation study, the degradation of the MPEG‐PCLA diblock copolymers mainly depends on the PCL and PLLA segments present in their structure. MPEG‐PCLA, with intermediate ratio of PCL and PLLA segment, completely degraded after 14 weeks. Meanwhile, partially degraded MPEG‐PCLA segments and parent MPEG segments were observed at higher PCL or PLLA segment contents. Introduction of PLLA into the PCL segments caused a lowering of the crystallinity of the diblock copolymers, thus, inducing a faster incoming of water into the copolymers. We confirmed that the diblock copolymers, with lower degree of crystallinity, have degraded more rapidly. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 46: 1242–1249, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers