The association of psychopathic traits with aggression and delinquency in non‐referred boys and girls

Abstract

The current study investigated the association of psychopathic traits with aggression and delinquency in a non-referred sample of boys (n=86) and girls (n=114) in the fifth through ninth grades at two public schools in a large urban area. Psychopathic traits were measured by both teacher- and self-report ratings, whereas aggression and delinquency were assessed through self-report ratings. Self-reported psychopathic traits were associated with both aggression and delinquency and teacher-reported psychopathic traits were associated with higher levels of aggression. There were no clear differences for the callous-unemotional, narcissism, or impulsivity dimensions in their associations with aggression and delinquency. Also, psychopathic traits predicted aggression and delinquency for both boys and girls. The one clear gender difference was in the stronger associations between psychopathic traits and relational aggression for girls.

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

“…However the findings do not confirm that the manifestations of psychopathic traits are potentially more severe among females than males placed in detention centers; the results obtained, namely that girls score lower on psychopathic traits in CU traits, point in the opposite direction. This is consistent with some of the previously mentioned literature and is in accord with the reported trend regarding psychopathic traits in children, preadolescents and adults (e.g., Frick et al, 2000b;Marsee et al, 2005;Verona & Vitale, 2006).…”

“…Boys scored higher than girls on the APSD total score. Marsee, Silverthorn, and Frick (2005) investigated the association of psychopathic traits with aggression and delinquency in a non-referred sample of boys (n=86) and girls (n=114). There were no clear differences for the CU, narcissism, or impulsivity dimensions regarding their association with aggression and delinquency.…”

Incremental and Predictive Validity of the Antisocial Process Screening Device in a Community Sample of Male and Female Ethnic Minority and Caucasian Youth

“…In addition, observed effect sizes, particularly for the IMP and NAR subscales, may have been inflated due to the use of a mono mode of assessment of psychopathic features and offending (i.e., use of self-report data only). However, given that prior studies with observerrated versions of the APSD (e.g., Marsee et al, 2006) have yielded a similar pattern of findings to those obtained in the current study, the relationship between the self-report APSD and offending does not appear to primarily reflect the reliance on self-report measures. Nevertheless, identifying offending on the basis of information from collateral sources (e.g., parents, teachers, juvenile arrest records) may also be helpful in providing a more accurate indication of offense rates and controlling for potential effect size inflation.…”

“…Moreover, for justice-involved juveniles, self-reported CU traits held the smallest and least consistent relationship with self-reported offending in comparison to total, IMP, and NAR scores (Poythress, Dembo, Wareham, & Greenbaum, 2006). However, these factor level differences were not present for the parent-rated APSD in a non-referred, community sample (Marsee, Silverthorn, & Frick, 2006). In offender samples, the CU subscale has demonstrated relatively poor internal consistency (α = .22 -.61) in comparison to the IMP (α = .44 -.68) and NAR (α = .59 -.85) subscales (Poythress, Dembo, et al, 2006;Poythress, Douglas, et al, 2006;Muñoz & Frick 2007), which may explain the weak association between APSD measured CU traits and antisocial behavior.…”

“…It may be the case that CU traits manifest differently between girls and boys, therefore affecting the relationship between CU traits and antisocial outcomes. For instance, although the association between physical aggression and CU traits was equal across sex, studies have found that the relationship between CU traits and relational aggression was stronger for adjudicated females (Stickle, Marini, & Thomas, 2012) and non-referred female youth (Marsee et al, 2006). Nonetheless, several community studies have reported that sex does not moderate the relationship between APSD subscales and antisocial outcomes (Kimonis, Frick, Fazekas, et al, 2006;McMahon et al, 2010).…”