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

Predictive Validity of Adolescent Callous-Unemotional Traits and Conduct Problems with Respect to Adult Outcomes: High- and Low-Risk Samples

Current understanding of the predictive validity of callous-unemotional (CU) traits is limited by (a) the focus on externalizing psychopathology and antisocial behaviors, (b) a lack of long-term prospective longitudinal data, (c) samples comprised of high-risk or low-risk individuals. We tested whether adolescent CU traits and conduct problems were associated with theoretically relevant adult outcomes 12-18 years later. Participants were drawn from two studies: higher-risk Fast Track (FT; n = 754) and lower-risk Child Development Project (CDP; n = 585). FT: conduct problems positively predicted externalizing and internalizing psychopathology and partner violence, and negatively predicted health, wellbeing, and education. Three conduct problems × CU traits interaction effects were also found. CDP: CU traits positively predicted depression and negatively predicted health and education; conduct problems positively predicted externalizing and internalizing psychopathology and substance use, and negatively predicted wellbeing. CU traits did not provide incremental predictive validity for multiple adult outcomes relative to conduct problems.

The association between callous-unemotional traits and substance use in childhood and adolescence: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are characterized by a lack of guilt and empathy, restricted affect, and low concern about performance, and are increasingly recognized as co-occurring with substance use in youth. However, there is mixed evidence concerning whether they make a unique contribution to substance use. This systematic review and meta-analysis sought to quantify the association between CU traits and substance use in childhood, accounting for potential moderators including sample characteristics (age, gender, community versus clinical/forensic samples), CU traits measure and informant, and study design (cross-sectional or longitudinal). Separate meta-analyses were conducted for alcohol, cannabis, and a substance use composite. Small, significant associations were found between CU traits and alcohol (θ = 0.17), cannabis (θ = 0.17) and the substance use composite (θ = 0.15), which were present in both community and clinical/forensic samples. Findings suggest that CU traits co-occur with a range of substance use problems, and that CU traits should be considered in assessments of youth presenting with substance use problems regardless of the nature of the setting.

Childhood psychopathic traits and mental health outcomes in adolescence: compensatory and protective effects of positive relationships with parents and teachers

We identified mental health outcomes associated with specific developmental trajectories of psychopathic traits across childhood and tested whether positive relationships with parents and teachers have compensatory or protective effects. Participants were 1401 children (52.82% girls) from the Quebec Longitudinal Study of Child Development with available data on teacher-reported psychopathic traits (ages 6-12 years) and self-reported mental health outcomes (ages 15-17 years). Parents and teachers reported their levels of positive relationship with the child (ages 6-8 and 10-12 years). Trajectories of psychopathic traits (High-stable, Increasing, Decreasing, and Low-stable) were included as predictors of mental health outcomes (e.g., conduct disorder, anxiety) in structural equation models controlling for child sex, family SES, and earlier psychopathology. Compensatory effects were tested via main effects of positive relationships and protective effects were tested via their interactive effects with trajectories memberships. When compared to the Low-stable trajectory of psychopathic traits, the High-stable, Increasing, and Decreasing trajectories were associated with distinct sets of mental health outcomes, with children from the Increasing trajectory being at higher risk for both externalizing and internalizing psychopathology. Positive relationships with parents and teachers only partially compensated for these effects. Findings suggest that clinicians cannot expect the detrimental effects associated with psychopathic traits to be entirely prevented by children's positive relationships with parents and/or teachers. This study reinforces the importance of providing intensive preventive interventions to elementary school children with high levels of psychopathic traits to prevent the long-term negative consequences associated with these traits.

Primary and Secondary Variants of Psychopathic Traits in at-Risk Youth: Links with Maltreatment, Aggression, and Empathy

The current study examined whether two variants of psychopathic traits (PT) were identifiable in high-risk youth who had not yet been identified as antisocial, some of whom had documented histories of maltreatment (N = 167, M_age = 14.84), and then whether the variants differed in levels of aggression and empathy. High-PT youth with low anxiety and trauma (i.e., primary variant PT) and high anxiety and trauma (i.e., secondary variant PT) were differentiated. The secondary variant group was comprised largely of youth with documented histories of maltreatment. This group of youth also reported higher levels of proactive and reactive aggression than did the primary variant youth and low-PT youth. All youth reported similar levels of affective empathy and only small differences in cognitive empathy emerged: Primary variant youth reported lower cognitive empathy than low-PT youth. Findings support generalization of two variant groups of youth with psychopathic traits to diverse, high-risk samples not already identified as antisocial and have important implications for policy and practice.

The Role of Life Satisfaction in Predicting Youth Violence and Offending: A Prospective Examination

Life satisfaction in adolescence has been shown to protect against numerous negative outcomes (e.g., substance use, sexual risk-taking), but limited work has directly explored the relationship between life satisfaction and youth violence and offending. As such, we conducted a prospective assessment to explore this relationship among community (n = 334) and at-risk youth (n = 99). Findings suggest life satisfaction is significantly associated with decreased offending and violence within both samples and adds incremental value above established risk factors in predicting violent and total offending among community youth. Furthermore, moderation analyses indicate that the protective value of life satisfaction is greater for youth with high callous-unemotional traits. Mediation analyses suggest that youth who are unsatisfied with their lives may seek out substance use, in turn elevating risk of offending. Together, these findings indicate that efforts to improve overall life satisfaction may help prevent adolescent offending. However, future research is needed.

The utility of self-reported psychopathic traits in predicting recidivism among a sample of incarcerated female youths

Only a few studies have prospectively examined the utility of self-reported measures of psychopathic traits in predicting criminal behavior among forensic samples of female youth offenders. The main aim of this study is to compare the utility of two self-report measures of psychopathic-like traits in predicting criminal recidivism among a sample of incarcerated female youths. Participants (N = 76) from the three nation-wide Portuguese juvenile detention centers that admit female youths were followed over two years and prospectively classified as recidivists versus non-recidivists. Logistic regression models controlling for crime frequency and ethnicity revealed that neither the Antisocial Process Screening Device - Self-Report (APSD-SR) nor the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and their respective dimensions significantly predicted one- and two-year general recidivism and violent recidivism. Findings mostly suggest there are clear limitations in terms of the incremental utility of self-report measures of psychopathic traits in predicting criminal recidivism among incarcerated female juveniles.