Sociocultural Influences on Psychopathy Traits: A Cross-National Investigation

It is important to consider cultural implications in the development and manifestation of psychopathy because this construct is often understood in reference to behavioral deviance from social norms. This study examined the construct of psychopathy as it relates to three psychological constructs that are shaped by sociocultural contexts: collectivism-individualism, Zhongyong thinking, and dialectical self-concept. The authors recruited 636 participants from four nations and examined differences between Western English-speaking populations and East Asian Chinese-speaking populations. The results showed that collectivism and Zhongyong thinking negatively correlated with the maladaptive aspects of psychopathy (affective/interpersonal and behavioral), whereas individualism and dialectical self-concept positively correlated with the behavioral aspect of psychopathy. Dialectical self-concept also negatively correlated with Boldness. The majority of these associations did not differ significantly between the Western and East Asian samples. This finding suggests the potential universality of the psychological processes of psychopathy in relation to cultural values and thinking styles.

Core features of callous-unemotional traits: Network analysis of the inventory of callous-unemotional traits in offender and community samples

OBJECTIVE

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been added as a specifier labeled with "Limited Prosocial Emotion" used to diagnose conduct disorder in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. However, little is known about the core features of CU traits. Thus, this study aimed to identify the most central component of CU traits from a network perspective.

METHOD

Network analysis was applied to investigate the network structure of CU traits operationalized by the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in a sample of juvenile offenders (M_age  = 17.14, N = 609) and community youths (M_age  = 10.82, N = 487).

RESULTS

Our findings showed that items assessing callousness are the most central in the network across both samples. Also, the unemotional items were found to be located at a peripheral position, with fewer links apparent to callousness and uncaring items.

CONCLUSIONS

Callousness might be the key feature of CU traits in youths. Our findings further advance the general understanding about the core features of CU traits in clinical practice.

The Effect of COVID-19 on Mental Health and Wellbeing in a Representative Sample of Australian Adults

There is minimal knowledge about the impact of large-scale epidemics on community mental health, particularly during the acute phase. This gap in knowledge means we are critically ill-equipped to support communities as they face the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to provide data urgently needed to inform government policy and resource allocation now and in other future crises. The study was the first to survey a representative sample from the Australian population at the early acute phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Depression, anxiety, and psychological wellbeing were measured with well-validated scales (PHQ-9, GAD-7, WHO-5). Using linear regression, we tested for associations between mental health and exposure to COVID-19, impacts of COVID-19 on work and social functioning, and socio-demographic factors. Depression and anxiety symptoms were substantively elevated relative to usual population data, including for individuals with no existing mental health diagnosis. Exposure to COVID-19 had minimal association with mental health outcomes. Recent exposure to the Australian bushfires was also unrelated to depression and anxiety, although bushfire smoke exposure correlated with reduced psychological wellbeing. In contrast, pandemic-induced impairments in work and social functioning were strongly associated with elevated depression and anxiety symptoms, as well as decreased psychological wellbeing. Financial distress due to the pandemic, rather than job loss per se, was also a key correlate of poorer mental health. These findings suggest that minimizing disruption to work and social functioning, and increasing access to mental health services in the community, are important policy goals to minimize pandemic-related impacts on mental health and wellbeing. Innovative and creative strategies are needed to meet these community needs while continuing to enact vital public health strategies to control the spread of COVID-19.

Developing and validating a Chinese version of the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality-Self-Report

Studies have shown that previous psychopathy models may only address limited aspects of interpersonal and emotional deficits when being applied to the Chinese cultural context. Understanding cultural differences in the manifestation of the psychopathic personality requires a more comprehensive conceptual map that allows for examination of more detailed or nuanced aspects of psychopathy. The present study aimed to apply the Comprehensive Assessment of Psychopathic Personality (CAPP) framework to the Chinese cultural context and developed a Chinese version of the Self-Report Inventory of CAPP (CAPP-SR). An initial pool of 231 items was developed in Study 1, and then was tested and validated in 2 large community-based samples reported in Study 2 (N = 478) and Study 3 (N = 450). The Chinese version of the CAPP-SR was developed based on item response theory and content evaluation, with the aim of maximizing the psychometric quality, comprehensiveness, and similarity of scales with the standard CAPP-SR that was developed in English-speaking samples. The Chinese version of the CAPP-SR showed promising psychometric properties, with convergent validity that was similar to that demonstrated in English-speaking samples. The results also highlighted that the CAPP-SR can address the aforementioned issue in earlier psychopathy measures by covering various symptoms of emotional and interpersonal deficits. Furthermore, the results revealed that the associations among the various interpersonal and emotional deficits may differ between Chinese and Western populations. The CAPP-SR allows for future research that will deepen our understanding of the links among characteristics of psychopathy for Chinese populations. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Corrigendum: The Effect of COVID-19 on Mental Health and Wellbeing in a Representative Sample of Australian Adults

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2020.579985.].

Assessing Callous-Unemotional Traits in Chinese Detained Boys: Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits

The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) was designed to evaluate multiple facets of Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits in youths. However, no study has examined the factor structure and psychometrical properties of the ICU in Chinese detained juveniles. The current study assesses the factor structure, internal consistency and convergent validity of the ICU in 613 Chinese detained boys. Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that the original three-factor model with 24 items showed an unacceptable fit to the data, however, the 11-item shortened version of the ICU (ICU-11) with callousness and uncaring dimensions showed the best fit. Moreover, the ICU-11 total score and factor scores had good and acceptable internal consistencies. The convergent and criterion validity of the ICU-11 was demonstrated by comparable and significant associations in the expected direction with relevant external criteria (e.g., psychopathy, aggression, and empathy). In conclusion, present findings indicated that the ICU-11 is a reliable and efficient instrument to replace the original ICU when assessing CU traits in the Chinese male detained juvenile sample.

Further Validation of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits in Chinese Children: Cross-Informants Invariance and Longitudinal Invariance

The present study examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the shortened versions of the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits (ICU) with data from multiple informants. Five short versions of the ICU proposed in previous studies were tested and compared through confirmatory factor analysis. The measurement invariance across different informants (i.e., self-report, parent-report, and teacher-report) and longitudinal measurement invariance for the resulting best-fitting model were tested thoroughly. Results indicated that a shortened form that consists of 11 items (ICU-11) to assess callousness and uncaring factors had excellent overall fit. Moreover, the ICU-11 was invariant across informant and occasions. However, the ICU-11 was not without limitations; the internal consistency α for the uncaring factor with self-report scores was marginal. In conclusion, our findings suggest that the ICU-11 was an excellent fit for our data and displayed measurement invariance across informants and over time. The ICU-11 may be a promising assessment tool that could be used in research to assess callous–uncaring traits in Chinese children.

Ambiguity and Conflict Aversion When Uncertainty Is in the Outcomes

We argue that the way ambiguity has been operationalized throughout the literature on ambiguity effects has an important limitation, insofar as ambiguity in outcomes has been neglected. We report two studies where judges do encounter ambiguity in the sampled outcomes and find evidence that ambiguity aversion is not less than when judges are given a range of outcomes without reference to ambiguous outcomes themselves. This result holds regardless of whether people are presented with a sample all at once or sample outcomes sequentially. Our experiments also investigate the effects of conflicting information about outcomes, finding that conflict aversion also does not decrease. Moreover, ambiguity and conflict aversion do not seem to arise as a consequence of judges ignoring uncertain outcomes and thereby treating outcome sets as reduced samples of unambiguous (or unconflicting) information. Instead, ambiguity and conflict aversion are partly explained by more pessimistic outcome forecasts by judges. This pessimism, in turn, may be due to the judges’ uncertainty about how the chance of a desirable outcome from an ambiguous or conflictive alternative compares with an equivalent risky alternative. Both studies used hypothetical scenarios, and no incentives were provided for participants’ decisions.

Psychometric Properties and Measurement Invariance of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 Among Chinese Insurance Employees

This study aimed to examine the psychometric properties and factorial invariance of the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18). Confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were performed to verify the BSI-18's factor structure in a large sample of Chinese insurance professionals (N = 2363, 62.7% women; age range = 19-70). Multigroup CFA were performed to test the measurement invariance of the model with the best fit across genders. In addition, structural equation modeling was conducted to test the correlations between the BSI-18 and two covariates - social support perception and grit trait. Results indicated that the bi-factor model best fit the data and was also equivalent across genders. The BSI-18's general factor, and somatization and depression dimensions were significantly related to social support perception and grit trait, whereas the anxiety dimension was not. Overall, our findings suggested that the BSI-18's can be a promising tool in assessing general psychological distress in Chinese employees.

Reducing the stigma associated with anorexia nervosa: An evaluation of a social consensus intervention among Australian and Chinese young women

OBJECTIVE

This study examined the effectiveness of a social consensus intervention in reducing stigma toward individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) among women from Australia and mainland China. Moreover, the different predictions of informational/normative social influence theory and the social identity approach in terms of the effectiveness of the social consensus intervention were investigated.

METHOD

Participants were female students from the Australian National University (n = 97) and Central China Normal University (n = 76) who reported their levels of stigma toward a fictional character with AN before and after receiving normative information regarding the attitudes of others toward people with AN. Three experimental conditions of normative information were utilized: in-group, out-group, and neutral.

RESULTS

Chinese participants reported higher levels of baseline stigma across all measures than Australian participants. Social consensus was effective in reducing most types of AN stigma, and supported the social identity approach in that improvements in attitudinal, affective, and behavioral aspects of stigma were significantly greater for participants in the in-group (but not the out-group) versus the neutral condition. The effectiveness of the social consensus approach was not moderated by nationality.

DISCUSSION

A social consensus approach holds potential as an additional strategy for reducing AN stigma, with its benefits extending across diverse cultural settings. Such an approach would entail ensuring that positive messages regarding people with AN are delivered by members of a valued in-group.

CDF-quantile distributions for modelling random variables on the unit interval

This paper introduces a two-parameter family of distributions for modelling random variables on the (0,1) interval by applying the cumulative distribution function of one 'parent' distribution to the quantile function of another. Family members have explicit probability density functions, cumulative distribution functions and quantiles in a location parameter and a dispersion parameter. They capture a wide variety of shapes that the beta and Kumaraswamy distributions cannot. They are amenable to likelihood inference, and enable a wide variety of quantile regression models, with predictors for both the location and dispersion parameters. We demonstrate their applicability to psychological research problems and their utility in modelling real data.

Development and Validation of a Chinese Language Version of the Ruminative Thought Styles Questionnaire

The Ruminative Thought Styles Questionnaire (RTS) conceptualizes rumination as repetitive, recurrent, intrusive, and uncontrollable thinking. This article outlines the development and validation of a Chinese language version of the RTS, the RTS-CH. Following independent translation, back translation, and final translation checking, the factor structure, convergent and divergent validity, and item-level congruence of the RTS-CH was examined and improved. The resultant scale showed equivalence to the RTS and had attractive psychometric properties. The RTS-CH is the first Chinese language rumination measure that does not have inherently negative or depressive content.

Translation and validation of the Chinese versions of the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale, Stigma of Suicide Scale, and Literacy of Suicide Scale

This article reports the validation of the Chinese versions of the Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale (SIDAS), the short form of Stigma of Suicide Scale (SOSS), and the short form of Literacy of Suicide Scale (LOSS) among 57 Chinese and English bilinguals and 224 Chinese university students. All the translated scales showed high correlations with the original versions. The translated SIDAS and refined SOSS demonstrated robust factor structures, good internal consistency, and convergent validity. Chinese students with self-reported depression symptoms tended to have higher glorification of suicide and lower suicide literacy. These brief scales fill an important gap in evaluating suicide outcomes in Chinese-speaking societies.

Psychometric properties of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure: An item response theory approach

There is cumulative evidence for the cross-cultural validity of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM; Patrick, 2010) among non-Western populations. Recent studies using correlational and regression analyses show promising construct validity of the TriPM in Chinese samples. However, little is known about the efficiency of items in TriPM in assessing the proposed latent traits. The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Chinese TriPM at the item level using item response theory analyses. It also examined the measurement invariance of the TriPM between the Chinese and the U.S. student samples by applying differential item functioning analyses under the item response theory framework. The results supported the unidimensional nature of the Disinhibition and Meanness scales. Both scales had a greater level of precision in the respective underlying constructs at the positive ends. The two scales, however, had several items that were weakly associated with their respective latent traits in the Chinese student sample. Boldness, on the other hand, was found to be multidimensional, and reflected a more normally distributed range of variation. The examination of measurement bias via differential item functioning analyses revealed that a number of items of the TriPM were not equivalent across the Chinese and the U.S.

SAMPLES

Some modification and adaptation of items might be considered for improving the precision of the TriPM for Chinese participants. (PsycINFO Database Record

Elaborating on the construct validity of Triarchic Psychopathy Measure in Chinese clinical and nonclinical samples

The contemporary knowledge of the construct and operationalization of psychopathy in East Asian countries is still limited. The present paper examines the validity and applicability of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) based on the triarchic model of psychopathy in Chinese clinical and nonclinical samples. The results of Study 1 using a psychiatric patient sample (N = 193) showed that the pattern of associations between the TriPM scales (Boldness, Meanness, and Disinhibition) and the 3 factors (Egocentricity, Callous, and Antisocial) of the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale were similar to previous studies using English-speaking samples. Study 2 examined the construct validity of the TriPM with the inclusion of culturally adapted measures as external criteria in a university sample (N = 311). The TriPM Boldness scale was uniquely associated with fearlessness, whereas TriPM Disinhibition was associated with risky behaviors. TriPM Meanness significantly correlated with a Chinese interpersonal construct, Renqing, which is a social norm of interpersonal affect and relations. Cross-cultural implications for psychopathy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record

Development and Validation of the Chinese Triarchic Psychopathy Measure

The nature of psychopathy is not well understood in East Asian cultures, partially due to a lack of an established measurement of this important construct. This study developed and validated a Chinese-language version of the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure (TriPM) based on Patrick et al.'s (2009) triarchic model of psychopathy. Study 1 described the translation of the Chinese TriPM and demonstrated that the Chinese version of the TriPM is equivalent to the original English version in linguistic meaning. Study 2 examined the construct validity of the Chinese TriPM in a Chinese student sample. The TriPM evinced acceptable reliability and promising validity. Moreover, cross-cultural equivalence was examined by relative associations for the TriPM with the Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale across the Chinese sample and a comparable United States student sample. Results revealed that the test bias in the strength of associations, regression intercepts, and slopes was mostly absent across the two samples.

Asymmetries in Responses to Attitude Statements: The Example of "Zero-Sum" Beliefs

While much has been written about the consequences of zero-sum (or fixed-pie) beliefs, their measurement has received almost no systematic attention. No researchers, to our awareness, have examined the question of whether the endorsement of a zero-sum-like proposition depends on how the proposition is formed. This paper focuses on this issue, which may also apply to the measurement of other attitudes. Zero-sum statements have a form such as "The more of resource X for consumer A, the less of resource Y for consumer B." X and Y may be the same resource (such as time), but they can be different (e.g., "The more people commute by bicycle, the less revenue for the city from car parking payments"). These statements have four permutations, and a strict zero-sum believer should regard these four statements as equally valid and therefore should endorse them equally. We find, however, that three asymmetric patterns routinely occur in people's endorsement levels, i.e., clear framing effects, whereby endorsement of one permutation substantially differs from endorsement of another. The patterns seem to arise from beliefs about asymmetric resource flows and power relations between rival consumers. We report three studies, with adult samples representative of populations in two Western and two non-Western cultures, demonstrating that most of the asymmetric belief patterns are consistent across these samples. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of this kind of "order-effect" for attitude measurement.