Current knowledge about the validity of the psychopathy syndrome in youth is limited largely to studies relying on parent-teacher rating scales or slight modifications of adult measures. Recently, the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) was designed for use with adolescents. However, most studies that have used this measure examined incarcerated males and addressed only validity criteria related to antisocial behavior. We investigated the generality and construct validity of the psychopathy syndrome in an adolescent sample by assessing 115 adolescent males on probation with the PCL:YV. Reliability of measurement was high. PCL:YV ratings predicted not only antisocial behaviour but also other indices of childhood psychopathology, interpersonal behaviors associated with adult psychopathy, and a lack of attachment to parents. These findings suggest that the PCL:YV identifies a syndrome in adolescence consistent with theory and research on adult males.

Two studies examined whether increased attention to interpersonal behaviors would improve assessments of the personality core underlying psychopathy. After item analysis, 21 items measuring interpersonal interactions and nonverbal behaviors associated with psychopathy were retained as the Interpersonal Measure of Psychopathy (IM-P). Federal prison inmates (Study 1, N *= 98) and undergraduates (Study 2, N ~ 92) were rated on occurrence of these behaviors during an interview conducted to complete either Hare's Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) or Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL: SV). In both studies, IM-P scores correlated more highly with PCL Factor 1 than with PCL Factor 2 scores. Regression analyses indicated that, after controlling for demographic variables and PCL factor scores, IM-P scores predicted interviewer emotional responses and participants' adult fighting (Study 1) and ratings of participants' interpersonal dominance (Study 2 ). Thus, measurement of interpersonal behavior appears to permit improved prediction of several criteria linked to the personality core of psychopathy.

The authors examined the mood patterns of young adults with cyclothymia, intermittent depression, or no affective disorder in a nonclinical population. In a conceptual replication and extension of R. A. Depue et al. (1981, Study 5), participants completed a trait measure of mood and then completed daily mood ratings for 28 days. Individuals in the intermittent depression and cyclothymia groups were characterized by high levels of negative affect on trait and daily ratings. Both groups were also characterized by high variability of negative affect across days. Individuals with cyclothymia reported higher levels of trait and daily positive affect than individuals with intermittent depression and also exhibited high between-day variability on positive affect. Similarities and differences with R. A. Depue et al. (1981) are described and the results are discussed in terms of the common and differentiating features of the subsyndromal affective disorders.

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Gough's (1960) Socialization (So) scale has been widely used as a measure of the extent to which societal values are internalized. It is well documented that antisocial individuals evidence low So scores but less clear that low So scores predict antisocial behavior in nonclinical samples. Two studies conducted at different universities in different geographical regions and different decades provided evidence consistent with this hypothesis. Results from Study 1 revealed that self-reports of several types of antisocial behavior and substance use were significantly more common among Low-So than High-So undergraduate men and women. Study 2 replicated principal findings for both men and women using correlational analyses. In addition, Study 2 yielded a significant relation between low So scores and greater family conflict as well as several gender differences reflecting stronger correlations in men than in women. These findings indicate substantial generality for the relations between socialization and antisocial behavior, especially in men, and are consistent with the use of the So scale to identify subjects who share important characteristics with criminal or psychopathic groups.