The Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version and adolescent and adult recidivism: Considerations with respect to gender, ethnicity, and age.

The present study investigated the predictive accuracy of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV; A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 2003) for youth and adult recidivism, with respect to gender, ethnicity, and age, in a sample of 161 Canadian young offenders who received psychological services from an outpatient mental health facility. The PCL: YV significantly predicted any general, nonviolent, and violent recidivism in the aggregate sample over a 7-year follow-up; however, when results were disaggregated by youth and adult outcomes, the PCL: YV consistently appeared to be a stronger predictor of youth recidivism. The PCL: YV predicted youth recidivism for subsamples of female and Aboriginal youths, and very few differences in the predictive accuracy of the tool were observed for younger vs. older adolescent groups. Both the 13-item (i.e., D. J. Cooke & C. Michie, 2001, 3-factor) and the 20-item (i.e., R. D. Hare, 2003, 4-factor) models appeared to predict various recidivism criteria comparably across the aggregate sample and within specific demographic subgroups (e.g., female and Aboriginal youth). The Antisocial facet contributed the most variance in the prediction of adult outcomes, whereas the 3-factor model contributed significant incremental variance in the prediction of youth recidivism outcomes. Potential implications concerning the use of the PCL: YV in clinical and forensic assessment contexts are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Therapeutic responses of psychopathic sexual offenders: Treatment attrition, therapeutic change, and long-term recidivism.

The authors examined the therapeutic responses of psychopathic sex offenders (≥25 Psychopathy Checklist—Revised; PCL–R) in terms of treatment dropout and therapeutic change, as well as sexual and violent recidivism over a 10-year follow-up among 156 federally incarcerated sex offenders treated in a high-intensity inpatient sex offender program. Psychopathy and sex offender risk/treatment change were assessed using the PCL–R and the Violence Risk Scale—Sexual Offender version (VRS–SO), respectively. Although psychopathic participants were more likely than their nonpsychopathic counterparts (     

The long-term prediction of offender recidivism using diagnostic, personality, and risk/need approaches to offender assessment.

The present study examined the prediction of recidivism using diagnostic, personality, and risk/need approaches over a 10-year follow-up in a heterogeneous sample of 61 offenders (i.e., probationers and provincial and federal offenders). The Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (LS/CMI), Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R), and DSM-III antisocial personality disorder (APD) were examined. The measures were highly correlated and demonstrated theoretically meaningful patterns of convergent validity. Although psychopathy was highly correlated with both LS/CMI and APD, the majority of the shared variance with LS/CMI and with APD was accounted for by Factor 2 and the criminality facet of the PCL-R. All three assessment measures predicted future violence, any future reincarceration upon release, and recidivism severity (as measured by aggregate sentence length). However, none of these measures made a significant incremental contribution to the prediction of recidivism beyond either of the other two measures. Differences between the predictive validities of the three measures were minimal. The results are discussed in terms of recent debates concerning the use of these instruments in the assessment of offender risk. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Temperament profiles from infancy to middle childhood: Development and associations with behavior problems.

The authors applied I-States as Objects Analysis (ISOA), a recently proposed person-oriented analytic approach, to the study of temperament development in 921 Norwegian children from a population-based sample. A 5-profile classification based on cluster analysis of standardized mother reports of activity, sociability, emotionality, and shyness at ages 18 months, 30 months, 4-5 years, and 8-9 years was interpretable and highly replicable. The prevalence of temperament profiles changed markedly with age, and individual stability in temperament profiles was significant. Specific typical and atypical developmental sequences of profiles were identified. Selective patterns of concurrent group differences in externalizing and internalizing problems by temperament profiles were remarkably similar across ages. The findings to some degree support the notion that individual temperament-variable values take on meaning in relation to the whole individual configuration and indicate some lawfulness in temperament changes over time. Future person-oriented studies of temperament development should replicate the current results using multiple data sources, rigorous tests of gender differences, and latent group modeling. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-esteem development from young adulthood to old age: A cohort-sequential longitudinal study.

The authors examined the development of self-esteem from young adulthood to old age. Data came from the Americans’ Changing Lives study, which includes 4 assessments across a 16-year period of a nationally representative sample of 3,617 individuals aged 25 years to 104 years. Latent growth curve analyses indicated that self-esteem follows a quadratic trajectory across the adult life span, increasing during young and middle adulthood, reaching a peak at about age 60 years, and then declining in old age. No cohort differences in the self-esteem trajectory were found. Women had lower self-esteem than did men in young adulthood, but their trajectories converged in old age. Whites and Blacks had similar trajectories in young and middle adulthood, but the self-esteem of Blacks declined more sharply in old age than did the self-esteem of Whites. More educated individuals had higher self-esteem than did less educated individuals, but their trajectories were similar. Moreover, the results suggested that changes in socioeconomic status and physical health account for the decline in self-esteem that occurs in old age. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Applicability of traditional and revised models of psychopathy to the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version.

Recently, psychopathy has become virtually synonymous with the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) measures. However, the "gold standard" 2-factor model that underlies these measures has been questioned for its uncertain empirical support and emphasis on antisocial behavior that is not specific to psychopathic personality deviation. This study (N=870 civil psychiatric patients) compares the fit of the traditional 2-factor model with that of a revised 3-factor model of psychopathy. The revised model better describes the structure of the Screening Version of the PCL (PCL:SV) than the traditional model. Although the revised model's exclusion of some items that assess antisocial behavior reduces the PCL:SV's power in predicting patient violence, this model arguably assesses psychopathy in a more specific, theoretically coherent fashion that may reduce misapplications of the construct. Implications for future research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and Offending From Adolescence to Adulthood: A 10-Year Follow-Up.

This study examined the predictive validity of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; A. E. Forth, D. S. Kosson, & R. D. Hare, 2003) from adolescence to early adulthood. The authors coded the PCL:YV using file information and collected criminal record information over a 10-year follow-up period on 157 boys, ages 12 through 18, referred to Youth Forensic Psychiatric Services for assessment in 1986. The risk for violence into early adulthood was greater among those with high PCL:YV scores than among those with low scores, even after controlling for conduct disorder, age at first offence, and history of violent and nonviolent offending. These results indicate that the PCL:YV provides meaningful information about young offenders' risk for violence into early adulthood. Clinical implications are discussed, with reference to pertinent ethical issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychophysiology of Aggression, Psychopathy, and Conduct Problems: A Meta-Analysis.

A meta-analysis of 95 studies was conducted to investigate the relations of heart rate (HR) and electrodermal activity (EDA) with aggression, psychopathy, and conduct problems. Analyses revealed a complex constellation of interactive effects, with a failure in some cases of autonomic patterns to generalize across antisocial spectrum behavior constructs. Low resting EDA and low task EDA were associated with psychopathy/sociopathy and conduct problems. However, EDA reactivity was positively associated with aggression and negatively associated with psychopathy/sociopathy. Low resting HR and high HR reactivity were associated with aggression and conduct problems. Physiology-behavior relations varied with age and stimulus valence in several cases. Empirical and clinical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental implications of openness to experience in preschool children: Gender differences in young adulthood.

This study examined the longitudinal implications in late adolescence and emerging adulthood of Openness to Experience measured in preschool in a sample of 102 participants who were followed from preschool through emerging adulthood (age 23). Although gender differences in mean Openness scores were not found, the postpubertal longitudinal correlations associated with preschool Openness differed markedly for the sexes. Preschool boys who received high Openness scores were consistently described, both by self and others, as resilient, competent, and self-assured in young adulthood. In contrast, female participants who received high Openness scores continued to be seen as open at ages 18 and 23 but were also viewed, both by self and others, as more psychologically vulnerable than were their male peers. The discussion focuses on transformations in female development and the different longitudinal implications of Openness to Experience in males and females. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Psychopathy and community violence among civil psychiatric patients: Results from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment Study.

Although psychopathy is recognized as a relatively strong risk factor for violence among inmates and mentally disordered offenders, few studies have examined the extent to which its predictive power generalizes to civil psychiatric samples. Using data on 1,136 patients from the MacArthur Violence Risk Assessment project, this study examined whether the 2 scales that underlie the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV) measure a unique personality construct that predicts violence among civil patients. The results indicate that the PCL:SV is a relatively strong predictor of violence. The PCL:SV's predictive power is substantially reduced, but remains significant, after controlling for a host of covariates that reflect antisocial behavior and personality disorders other than psychopathy. However, the predictive power of the PCL:SV is not based on its assessment of the core traits of psychopathy, as traditionally construed. Implications for the 2-factor model that underlies the PCL measures and for risk assessment practice are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Female bisexuality from adolescence to adulthood: Results from a 10-year longitudinal study.

Debates persist over whether bisexuality is a temporary stage of denial or transition, a stable "3rd type" of sexual orientation, or a heightened capacity for sexual fluidity. The present study uses 5 waves of longitudinal data collected from 79 lesbian, bisexual, and "unlabeled" women to evaluate these models. Both the "3rd orientation" and "fluidity" models had support, but the "transitional stage" model did not. Over 10 years, 2/3 of women changed the identity labels they had claimed at the beginning of the study, and 1/3 changed labels 2 or more times. Yet, contrary to the "transitional stage" model, more women adopted bisexual/unlabeled identities than relinquished these identities; few bisexual/unlabeled women ended up identifying as lesbian or heterosexual. Overall, the most commonly adopted identity was "unlabeled." Bisexual/unlabeled women had stable overall distributions of same-sex/other-sex attractions but greater absolute fluctuations in attractions from assessment to assessment than lesbians. All women reported declines in their ratio of same-sex to other-sex behavior over time. These findings demonstrate that the distinction between lesbianism and bisexuality is a matter of degree rather than kind. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Developmental changes in personal goal orientation from young to late adulthood: From striving for gains to maintenance and prevention of losses.

Using a multimethod approach, the authors conducted 4 studies to test life span hypotheses about goal orientations across adulthood. Confirming expectations, in Studies 1 and 2 younger adults reported a primary growth orientation in their goals, whereas older adults reported a stronger orientation toward maintenance and loss prevention. Orientation toward prevention of loss correlated negatively with well-being in younger adults. In older adults, orientation toward maintenance was positively associated with well-being. Studies 3 and 4 extend findings of a self-reported shift in goal orientation to the level of behavioral choice involving cognitive and physical fitness goals. Studies 3 and 4 also examine the role of expected resource demands. The shift in goal orientation is discussed as an adaptive mechanism to manage changing opportunities and constraints across adulthood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Low self-esteem is a risk factor for depressive symptoms from young adulthood to old age.

Data from two large longitudinal studies were used to analyze reciprocal relations between self-esteem and depressive symptoms across the adult life span. Study 1 included 1,685 participants aged 18 to 96 years assessed 4 times over a 9-year period. Study 2 included 2,479 participants aged 18 to 88 years assessed 3 times over a 4-year period. In both studies, cross-lagged regression analyses indicated that low self-esteem predicted subsequent depressive symptoms, but depressive symptoms did not predict subsequent levels of self-esteem. This pattern of results replicated across all age groups, for both affective–cognitive and somatic symptoms of depression, and after controlling for content overlap between the self-esteem and depression scales. The results suggest that low self-esteem operates as a risk factor for depressive symptoms at all phases of the adult life span. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Child psychopathy and protective factors: IQ and motivation to change.

Psychopathy in children and adolescents has received increased attention over the past decade. Researchers have been particularly interested in identifying who tomorrow's chronic and serious offenders might be. In addition, researchers have been increasingly interested in determining the etiology of the disorder so as to inform treatment programs. Despite this interest, few studies to date have investigated the protective factors for psychopathy in youth. The current study investigated 140 adolescent boys and girls and the potential protective mechanisms of intelligence and motivation to change. Findings indicated that motivation to change served as a protective factor for general and violent offending at varying levels of psychopathy. Motivation to change also served as a compensatory factor for psychopathy when examining high rates of violent offending. These findings suggest that the cognitive factor of motivation to change may very well be critical in examining developmental pathways to offending in youth and a key consideration for those youth scoring high on psychopathy scales and considering violence as a means of gain. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Race-ethnic inequality and psychological distress: Depressive symptoms from adolescence to young adulthood.

Social inequality is well established in the mental health of race-ethnic groups, but little is known about this disparity from adolescence to young adulthood. This study examined differences in trajectories of depressive symptoms across 4 race-ethnic groups (Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, and Asians) using 3 waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Latent trajectory analyses showed race-ethnic variations among both females and males. Stressors were significantly related to depressive symptoms for all study members, but they accounted for symptom trajectories only among Black males and minority females. Persistent differences in trajectories for Blacks and Whites showed parallel slopes that did not converge over time. Neither background characteristics nor social resources (i.e., social support) altered this gap. However, social support represents a potential equalizer of these race-ethnic differences, owing to the ubiquitous nature of its protective effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Infancy parenting and externalizing psychopathology from childhood through adulthood: Developmental trends.

Developmental models and previous findings suggest that early parenting is more strongly associated with externalizing problems in early childhood than it is in adolescence. In this article, the authors address whether the association of poor-quality infancy parenting and externalizing problems “rebounds” in adulthood. Poor-quality infancy parenting was associated with externalizing problems at kindergarten and first grade (mother report) as well as at 23 and 26 years (self report). Infancy parenting was not significantly associated with either mothers’ or youths’ reports of externalizing problems at 16 years. These findings are consistent with the notion that poor-quality infancy parenting is a risk factor for externalizing problems in developmental periods for which externalizing behavior is most deviant. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital quality, parenting, and adolescent internalizing problems: A three-wave longitudinal study.

The present 3-wave, 3-year longitudinal study examined direct and indirect associations between marital quality, parenting, and adolescent internalizing problems, taking into account bidirectional associations between these concepts. Data were used from 428 Dutch families, consisting of 2 biological parents and 2 adolescents with mean ages of 13.4 and 15.2 years (at Time 1). Results from structural equation modeling analyses showed that low marital quality at Time 1 was directly related to adolescent internalizing problems at Time 2 in oldest siblings. However, support was not found for any indirect associations through parenting or for longitudinal associations from adolescent internalizing problems to parents' marital quality. Results are discussed in terms of implications for understanding the mechanism by which marital quality is related to adolescent internalizing problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Movie exposure to alcohol cues and adolescent alcohol problems: A longitudinal analysis in a national sample.

The authors tested a theoretical model of how exposure to alcohol cues in movies predicts level of alcohol use (ever use plus ever and recent binge drinking) and alcohol-related problems. A national sample of younger adolescents was interviewed by telephone with 4 repeated assessments spaced at 8-month intervals. A structural equation modeling analysis performed for ever-drinkers at Time 3 (N = 961) indicated that, controlling for a number of covariates, movie alcohol exposure at Time 1 was related to increases in peer alcohol use and adolescent alcohol use at Time 2. Movie exposure had indirect effects to alcohol use and problems at Times 3 and 4 through these pathways, with direct effects to problems from Time 1 rebelliousness and Time 2 movie exposure also found. Prospective risk-promoting effects were also found for alcohol expectancies, peer alcohol use, and availability of alcohol in the home; protective effects were found for mother's responsiveness and for adolescent's school performance and self-control. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Trajectories of smoking from adolescence to early adulthood and their psychosocial risk factors.

Objective: To explore patterns of persistence and change in smoking behavior as well as risk factors associated with the developmental course of smoking from age 13 to 25. Design: Data from the public use sample of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 5,789) were analyzed using semiparametric group-based modeling. Main Outcome Measures: Smoking quantity-frequency in the past 30 days. Results: Six distinct smoking trajectories were identified: nonsmokers, experimenters, stable light smokers, quitters, late escalators, and stable high smokers. Baseline risk factors that were associated with greater likelihood of membership in all of the smoking trajectory groups compared with nonsmokers included alcohol use, deviance, peer smoking, and (with the exception of the late escalators) drug use. Deviance, peer smoking, and alcohol and drug use also distinguished the likelihood of membership among several of the 5 smoking trajectory groups. Conclusion: The results add to basic etiologic research on developmental pathways of smoking in adolescence and young adulthood by providing evidence of heterogeneity in smoking behavior and prospectively linking different patterns of risk factors with the probability of trajectory group membership. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The association between parent–child conflict and adolescent conduct problems over time: Results from a longitudinal adoption study.

A handful of prior adoption studies have confirmed that the cross-sectional relationship between child conduct problems and parent–child conflict at least partially originates in the shared environment. However, as the direction of causation between parenting and delinquency remains unclear, this relationship could be better explained by the adolescent's propensity to elicit conflictive parenting, a phenomenon referred to as an evocative gene–environment correlation. In the current study, the authors thus examined the prospective relationship between conduct problems and parent–child conflict in a sample of adoptive families. Participants included 672 adolescents in 405 adoptive families assessed at 2 time points roughly 4 years apart. Results indicated that parent–child conflict predicts the development of conduct problems, whereas conduct problems do not predict increases in parent–child conflict. Such findings suggest that evocative gene–environment correlations are highly unlikely to be an explanation of prior shared environmental effects during adolescence. Moreover, because the adolescents in this study do not share genes with their adoptive parents, the association between conduct problems and parent–child conflict is indicative of shared environmental mediation in particular. Implications of the findings are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)