The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory -Short version (YPI-S) among Portuguese juvenile delinquents within a forensic sample of 221 incarcerated males (ages 13-20 years). Confirmatory Factor Analysis supported the three-factor structure of the YPI and YPI-S, and the reliability of both instruments was good for the majority of subscales and factors. The YPI and YPI-S and their subscales showed good criterion, external, and divergent validity. That is, positive associations were found with a number of external criteria including Conduct Disorder, crime seriousness, and violent crimes. Total and subscale scores on both YPI versions were positively related to the Antisocial Process Screening Device, the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits, and the Child and Adolescent Taxon Scale. Finally, both the YPI and YPI-S were mostly unrelated to the Social Anxiety Scale for Adolescents. Overall, the YPI-S presented less problems with reliability, but weaker relations to external correlates. These findings justify the use of the YPI and the YPI-S among incarcerated youths.

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The main objectives of the present study were to validate a Portuguese version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device-Self-Report and to evaluate the predictive importance of some constructs in discriminating between inmate delinquent youth and community youth. With a total of 760 participants, male (n = 543) and female (n = 217), divided in an inmate forensic sample (n = 250) and a community sample (n = 510), the authors were able to demonstrate psychometric properties that justify its use with the Portuguese juvenile population, in terms of factor structure, internal consistency, temporal stability, convergent validity, divergent validity, concurrent validity, and cutoff score. The predictive importance of psychopathic traits, self-reported delinquent behavior, and behavior problems on the prediction of sample membership (forensic vs. community) was established by binary logistic regression.

The main aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) and of its adapted short version among a forensic sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders (N = 221). The Portuguese validations of the BES and its adapted short version demonstrated good psychometric properties, namely in terms of the two-factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and concurrent validity that generally justifies its use among this population.Statistically significant associations were found with callous-unemotional traits and social anxiety. Findings are discussed in terms of the use of the BES and its adapted short version with juvenile offenders.

The aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) among a forensic sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders ( N = 221). The Portuguese version of the RPQ demonstrated promising psychometric properties, namely, in terms of factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and concurrent validity that generally justifies its use among this population. Statistically significant associations were found with conduct disorder, age of criminal onset, age of first problem with the law, crime seriousness, physical violence use in committing crimes, alcohol use, cannabis use, cocaine/heroin use, and having unprotected sex. The findings provide additional support for the extension of the RPQ across different cultures, ethnic groups, and samples.

The main aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) among a sample of incarcerated male Portuguese juvenile offenders (N = 221). Based on this sample, the Portuguese version of the ICU demonstrated promising psychometric properties, namely, in terms of factor structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, discriminant validity, and concurrent validity that generally justifies its use among this population. Statistically significant associations were found with conduct disorder, age of criminal onset, crime seriousness, physical violence use in committing crimes, alcohol use, cannabis use, and cocaine/heroin use.

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory -Short version (YPI-S) among a mixed-gender sample of 782Portuguese youth (M=15.87 years; SD=1.72) collected in a school context. Confirmatory factor analysis offered support for the expected 3-factor structure. Partial cross-gender measurement invariance and cross-sample measurement invariance of the YPI-S using a forensic sample of institutionalized males was established. ThePortuguese version of the YPI-S showed adequate psychometric properties in terms of internal consistency, mean inter-item correlation, corrected item-total correlation, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. In support for criterion-related validity, the YPI-S also showed statistically significant associations with self-reported conduct disorder symptoms, alcohol abuse, and drug use. In terms of known-groups validity, males from the school sample scored lower than males from the forensic sample and higher than females from the school sample. The YPI-S seems to be a valuable brief and psychometrically reliable and valid self-report measure, which can be used to assess psychopathic traits in diverse samples of youth.Keywords: assessment; measurement invariance; Youth Psychopathic Traits InventoryThe constellation of affective, interpersonal, and behavioral deviant traits, referred to as psychopathy (Cooke & Michie, 2001; Hare, 2003), has proven to be of great value when identifying the most early, severe, and stable forms of antisocial behavior (Leistico, Salekin, DeCoster, & Rogers, 2008; Pechorro et al., 2012). The need for early identification is justifiable since psychopathy is considered a high risk condition with a progressive impairment and a decreased therapeutic response over time (Ribeiro da Silva, Rijo, & Salekin, 2012, 2013, 2015Salekin, , 2015Salekin, Tippey, & Allen, 2012). Research on the study of psychopathy in children and youth has gained widespread attention over the past decades (Salekin & Lynam, 2010). These research efforts have led the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association, APA, 2013) to add a specifier for Conduct Disorder, which covers the diagnostic criteria for the affective component of psychopathy, considered by many to be the core element of this disorder (e.g., Cleckley, 1941Cleckley, /1988 There are several self-report measures that can be used to assess psychopathic traits in youth (see Ribeiro da Silva et al., 2013, and Pechorro, Jiménez, Nunes, & Hidalgo, 2016), enabling researchers to study these traits in a less time-consuming way.One self-report measure that has been used in numerous studies worldwide is the Youth Michie's three-factor conceptualization of psychopathy (Cooke & Michie, 2001). The YPI-S has proven to be an economic, valid, and reliable three-factor measure aiming to assess psychopathic traits in boys and girls both from community and forensic settings (Colins & Andershed, 2015; Colins, Noom, Vand...

Aggression is an important risk factor for various forms of problem behaviors in adolescence, and research has often distinguished between reactive and proactive forms of aggression. The aim of the present study was to compare the psychometric properties (i.e., structural invariance, internal consistency, and criterion validity) of the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ) between males and females among a mixed-gender school sample of 782 Portuguese youth (M = 15.87 years, SD = 1.72). Confirmatory factor analysis revealed that a two-factor first-order structure obtained the best fit and cross-gender measurement invariance was demonstrated after excluding item 21. The Portuguese version of the RPQ demonstrated generally adequate psychometric properties of internal consistency measured by Cronbach's alpha and omega coefficient, convergent validity, discriminant validity, criterion-related validity, and known-groups validity. Findings are discussed in terms of the use of the RPQ with male and female youths.