Adolescents with psychopathic characteristics in a substance abusing cohort: Treatment process and outcomes.

Abstract

Psychopathy is a condition with important consequences both for individuals who experience it and for the communities in which they live. Although the assessment of psychopathy among adolescents remains controversial, some evidence suggests that the affective and behavioral traits of adult psychopathy begin to emerge in childhood

Psychopathy scores and violence among juvenile offenders: a multi‐measure study

“…Indeed, even research efforts to examine psychopathy-like features among juveniles have proven quite controversial. On the one hand, emerging research with youth has demonstrated some relationship between scores on measures of psychopathic features and important outcomes: e.g., poorer response in substance abuse treatment and higher rearrest rates (O'Neill, Lidz, & Heilbrun, 2003), reoffense after a five-year follow-up (Gretton et al, 2001), and short-term prospective measures of inpatient violence (Stafford & Cornell, 2003). On the other hand, the label ''psychopath'' has ominous connotations that may adversely influence treatment decisions, social service plans, and juvenile justice determinations (Murrie, Cornell, & McCoy, 2003) to the extent that prejudicial effects would outweigh any clinical value of the construct.…”

Adolescent Conduct Disorder and Interpersonal Callousness as Predictors of Psychopathy in Young Adults

“…In a prospective study of boys and girls, childhood abuse or neglect predicted adult psychopathy, and psychopathy appeared to mediate a link between childhood victimization and adult violence (Weiler & Widom, 1996). Retrospective recall of childhood abuse or neglect predicted psychopathy among a group of 64 adjudicated adolescents referred to a substance abuse treatment program (O'Neill, Lidz, Heilbrun, 2003) but not in a cross-sectional study of 95 adult male offenders (Forth & Tobin, 1995). In a sample of 1,077 eighth-grade boys and girls, Andershed, Gustafson, Kerr, and Stattin (2002) found that poor parent-child communication practices were related to antisocial behavior only among adolescents without psychopathy.…”

Psychopathic features in a juvenile diversion population: reliability and predictive validity of two self‐report measures

“…noted the need for research to determine whether APSD scores may be useful predictors of youths' response to interventions. To date only two studies relating psychopathic features in youth to treatment outcomes have been reported, both finding generally negative associations (O'Neill, Lidz, & Heilbrun, 2003;Rogers, Johansen, Chang, & Salekin, 1997). We also examined prospectively the relationship of these measures to criminal recidivism (rearrest).…”