Psychopathy in adolescent female offenders: an item response theory analysis of the psychopathy checklist: youth version

Abstract

The present study examined the applicability of the PCL:YV items to a sample of detained adolescent girls. Item response theory (IRT) was used to analyze test and item functioning of the PCL:YV. Examination of IRT trace lines indicated that the items most discriminating of the underlying construct of psychopathy included "callousness and a lack of empathy", "conning and manipulation", and "a grandiose sense of self-worth". Results from the analyses also demonstrated that the items least discriminating in this sample, or least useful for identifying psychopathy, included "poor anger control", "shallow affect", or engaging in a "serious violation of conditional release". Consistent with previous research (Cooke & Michie, 1997; Hare, 2003), interpersonal and affective components of psychopathy provided more information than behavioral features. Moreover, although previous research has also found affective features to provide the most information in past studies, it was interpersonal features of psychopathy in this case, followed by affective features, that provided greater levels of information. Implications of these results are discussed.

Examining relations between psychopathology and psychopathy dimensions among adolescent female and male offenders

“…The psychopathy construct is believed to exist in male and female adults, moreover there is a controversial discussion about psychopathy in women, and the potential downward extension to girls [57]. The psychopathy checklist-revised (PCL-R) [34] used for adult female offenders found lower means and a lower prevalence of psychopathy in female prisoners than in incarcerated men [54,55,79].…”

Psychopathy and behavior problems: A comparison of incarcerated male and female juvenile delinquents

“…Boys had higher psychopathy scores as measured by the APSD. Schrum and Salekin (2006) examined the applicability of the PCL:YV items to a sample of detained adolescent girls. Item response theory (IRT) was used to analyze test and item functioning of the PCL:YV.…”

The Dimensional Nature of Externalizing Behaviors in Adolescence: Evidence from a Direct Comparison of Categorical, Dimensional, and Hybrid Models

“…Krueger et al (2005) and Markon and Krueger (2005) also found superior fit for a latent trait model in a study of externalizing diagnoses in adulthood. In the adolescent literature, latent trait modeling of externalizing behaviors has revealed meaningful latent traits (Gelhorn et al 2009;Schrum and Salekin 2006;Van den Oord et al 2003), which supports a dimensional conceptualization. It should be noted that support for dimensional structures has even been found when modeling categorical symptoms and diagnoses (e.g., Gelhorn et al 2009;Krueger et al 2005;Markon and Krueger 2005).…”

“…The same has been found for latent trait modeling of general delinquency indicators (Van den Oord et al 2003). Finally, latent trait modeling of adolescent psychopathy (a personality style associated with callous affect, interpersonal manipulation, impulsivity, and delinquent behavior) has also provided support for a dimensional structure (Schrum and Salekin 2006).…”