Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory - Short Version among Portuguese Youth

Abstract

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...

Psychometric properties of the German version of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory – short version

“…Our results showed significantly stronger relationships between the YPI-S total score and GM traits, and anxious-depressed problems in girls than in boys. These results are in contrast with previous results regarding the YPI-S in general population samples with direct comparison between boys and girls (i.e., no gender differences between psychopathic traits and emotional problems [ 18 ] and a negative relationship between GM traits and social anxiety in girls, but not in boys [ 49 ]. With regard to offending samples using the YPI-S and looking into its relationship with internalizing MHP, only the study of Gillen et al [ 30 ] included both boys and girls.…”

“…Our results are generally in line with the results of previous YPI-S studies: other researchers also found higher psychopathic trait scores in boys than in girls, except for the II dimension [ 18 , 27 , 49 ]. Given the MI in the current study, the results of boys and girls may be compared and girls actually seem to have lower scores on psychopathic traits (except for II) as measured with the YPI-S than boys.…”

“…In addition, the number of studies investigating measurement invariance (MI) of the YPI-S across gender is still limited to date, although MI should be established to in order to meaningfully compare the observed test results between different groups [ 61 ]. The three-factor model of the YPI-S was found to show MI [ 17 , 47 ] or partial MI [ 49 ] in general population youths. MI was also given for the bi-factorial model of the YPI-S [ 62 ].…”

Investigating error-related processing in incarcerated adolescents with self-report psychopathy measures

“…The mean YPI Total Score for the sample was 117.03 ( SD = 20.94); YPI scores were unavailable for n = 4 participants retained in analyses. The Cronbach’s alpha for the YPI (all items) was .93, .92 for the Grandiose-Manipulative subscale, .76 for the Callous-Unemotional subscale, and .87 for the Impulsive-Irresponsible subscale, which is consistent with previously published reports (Fink et al, 2016; Pechorro, Dibeiro da Silva, Rijo, Gonçalves, & Andershed, 2017). See Table 1 for the remainder of descriptive statistics for self-report measures of adolescent psychopathic traits.…”

Psychometric Properties of Two Short Versions of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits Among Incarcerated Youth

“…Higher scores reflect an increased presence of the characteristics associated, namely, psychopathic features. To assess convergent validity, we used the YPI-CU subscale based on a Portuguese version of the YPI (Pechorro, Andershed, Ray, Maroco, & Gonçalves, 2015; Pechorro, Ribeiro da Silva, Rijo, Gonçalves, & Andershed, 2017), but it is worth mentioning it was not designed to be a specific refined and improved measure of CU traits. The internal consistency for the current study, estimated by Cronbach’s alpha, was YPI total = .90 and YPI C-U dimension = .70.…”