Psychopathic Traits in a Treatment-Referred and Community Adolescent Sample: Reliability and Validity of Two Measures
The primary goals of this study were to examine whether a normal personality measure (Multidimensional Personality Questionnaire—Easy Form) can adequately assess psychopathic traits in adolescents and to compare this measure to a well established assessment of youth psychopathy, the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). Participants included 165 treatment-referred and community youth between the ages of 11 and 17. Convergence between the MPQ-derived psychopathy factors and the APSD factors was revealed more in their correlations with criterion variables (externalizing symptoms, internalizing symptoms, suicidality, and substance use) than in their intercorrelations. The MPQ psychopathy factors tapped into both the unemotionality and adaptive aspects of psychopathy (the "mask" of sanity) as well as impulsive and antisocial traits. On the other hand, all of the APSD factors seem to relate most strongly to externalizing psychopathology. In general, the results provide preliminary support for a normal personality measurement of psychopathy in adolescents.
School:
San Diego State University
Department:
Psychology
Research Advisor:
Edelyn Verona
Department of Research Advisor:
Psychology
Year of Publication:
2007