Extending Steinberg's adolescent model of risk taking to the explanation of crime and delinquency: Are impulsivity and sensation seeking enough?

Measuring the dark triad: a meta-analytical SEM study of two prominent short scales

This research examines the factor structure and psychometric properties of two well-known Dark Triad personality trait questionnaires: the Short Dark Triad (SD3) and the Dirty Dozen (DD). By analyzing data from 11 (SD3) and 5 (DD) carefully selected studies in the United States and Canada, this meta-analysis uncovers unexpected correlations among questionnaire items, challenging existing assumptions. The study employs a two-stage structural equation modeling approach to evaluate various measurement models. Conventional models, such as the correlated factor and orthogonal bifactor models, fail to explain the irregular correlations. For Dirty Dozen items, a bifactor-(S·I-1) model is more suitable than the orthogonal bifactor model, significantly affecting interpretation. On the other hand, the complex structure of the SD3 necessitates item revision to enhance reliability, discriminant validity, and predictive validity. These findings emphasize the need for refining and clarifying concepts in item revision. Furthermore, the research highlights the overlap between Machiavellianism and psychopathy, particularly in relation to revenge-related items, suggesting the need for differentiation between these traits or the identification of distinct core characteristics.

Empathy, impulsiveness, and sensation seeking as mediators between primary psychopathic traits and driving behaviors in French driving offenders

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to examine the links between primary psychopathic traits and driving behavior on the one hand, and driving anger expression on the other hand, through the specific contribution of empathy, impulsiveness, and sensation seeking, in a sample of French driving offenders.

METHODS

One thousand six hundred and eighty-six driving offenders completed a paper-and-pencil questionnaire during 110 drivers' rehabilitation programs.

RESULTS

Primary psychopathic traits were positively associated with violations and aggressive driving anger expression, and negatively associated with prosocial driving behaviors. These associations were partially mediated by empathy, impulsiveness, and sensation seeking. In addition, the negative relation between primary psychopathic traits and adaptive anger expression was fully mediated by these three personal dispositions.

CONCLUSION

Low empathy, high impulsiveness and sensation seeking are important characteristics of driving offenders with high psychopathic traits. Our results provide a better understanding of French driving offenders' risky behaviors and the role of primary psychopathic traits.

Exposure to Violence Variety as a Risk Factor for Cigarette Smoking: Relevance of Sensation-Seeking and Impulsivity as Mediators

BACKGROUND

Prior research has indicated that exposure to violence is a risk factor associated with cigarette smoking. However, the relevance of variety of exposure for predicting this outcome has remained underexplored. This is problematic, as increased variety of exposure may represent a measure of severity of trauma exposure with less recall bias than other measures. Further, related constructs of sensation-seeking and impulsivity have yet to be investigated as mediators of this relationship. It is predicted that increased variety of exposure to violence results in dysfunctional variation in these constructs, leading to increased daily cigarette use.

METHODS

The present study utilizes data from the first three waves of the Pathways to Desistance study to examine these relationships. Generalized structural equation modeling is used to identify direct and indirect effects of interest. A bootstrap resampling process was used to compute normalized standard errors so that indirect effects were not biased.

RESULTS

Results indicated that lifetime exposure to violence variety prior to baseline predicted increased daily cigarette use at follow-up. Neither sensation-seeking nor impulsivity were significant mediators when both constructs were included in the model, but impulsivity emerged as a significant mediator when separate mediation models were estimated for each construct.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate the potential utility of screening for variety of exposure to violence to determine adolescents who may be at-risk for high frequency cigarette smoking. Programming focused on impulsivity may play a role in addressing cigarette smoking issues stemming from exposure to violence.

An Evaluation of Dual Systems Theories of Adolescent Delinquency in a Normative Longitudinal Cohort Study of Youth

Dual systems theories of adolescent risk-taking propose that the socioemotional and self-regulation systems develop at different rates, resulting in a peak in sensation-seeking in adolescence at a time when self-regulation abilities are not yet fully mature. This “developmental imbalance” between bottom-up drives for reward and top-down control is proposed to create a period of vulnerability for high-risk behaviors such as delinquency, substance use, unprotected sex, and reckless driving. In this study, data from the Swiss longitudinal normative z-proso study (n = 1522, n = 784 male; aged 11, 13, 15, 17, and 20) were used to test whether the presence of a developmental imbalance between sensation-seeking and self-regulation is associated with trajectories of engagement in delinquency across early adolescence to adulthood. Using a latent class growth analysis of sensation-seeking, self-regulation, and delinquency, it was found that a model with 3 classes was optimal in the whole sample and male sub-sample, including one class characterized by a developmental imbalance and corresponding adolescent peak in delinquency. In females, there was no evidence for a class that could be described according to the trajectories hypothesized in dual systems theory. This study’s results support the claim that a developmental imbalance may drive an adolescent increase in delinquency. However, this applies only to a small subgroup of individuals, particularly males.