Psychopathy and substance use predict recidivism in women: A 7-year prospective study

Psychopathy Scores Predict Recidivism in High-risk Youth: A Five-year Follow-up Study

Psychopathic traits have been associated with rearrest in adolescents involved in the criminal legal system. Much of the prior work has focused on White samples, short follow-up windows, and relatively low-risk youth. The current study aimed to evaluate the utility of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) for predicting general and violent felony recidivism in a large sample of high-risk, predominantly Hispanic/Latino, male adolescents (n = 254) with a five-year follow-up period. Results indicated higher PCL:YV scores and lower full-scale estimated IQ scores were significantly associated with a shorter time to felony and violent felony rearrest. These effects generalized to Hispanic/Latino adolescents (n = 193)-a group that faces disproportionate risk of being detained or committed to juvenile correctional facilities in the U.S. These results suggest that expert-rated measures of psychopathic traits and IQ are reliable predictors of subsequent felony and violent felony rearrest among high-risk male adolescents.

For whom are treatments for criminal recidivism effective? Moderator effects from a randomized controlled trial of justice-involved veterans

OBJECTIVE

In a recent trial, moral reconation therapy (MRT)-a cognitive-behavioral intervention for criminal recidivism-was not more effective than usual care (UC) for veterans in behavioral health treatment. To determine for whom treatments of recidivism are most effective, we tested if recency of criminal history or psychopathic traits moderated MRT's effects on outcomes.

METHOD

In a multisite trial, 341 veterans (95.3% male; 57.8% White/Non-Hispanic) with a criminal history who were admitted to behavioral health treatment programs were randomly assigned to UC or UC + MRT and followed at 6- and 12-months. Incarceration (yes/no) or criminal conviction (yes/no) in the year prior to enrollment and psychopathic traits at baseline (median split) were prespecified as moderators of treatment effects on primary (criminal thinking, criminal associations) and secondary outcomes (legal, employment, and family/social problems; substance use problems and days of use).

RESULTS

Among veterans incarcerated in the year prior to enrollment, MRT (vs. UC) was associated with greater reductions in criminal associations (6 months) and days drinking or using drugs (12 months). Among those convicted in the year prior to enrollment, MRT (vs. UC) was associated with greater reductions in employment problems (12 months) and days drinking or using drugs at each follow-up. For those high in psychopathic traits, MRT (vs. UC) was associated with greater reductions in days drinking or using drugs at each follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS

For veterans in behavioral health treatment with recent criminal histories and high in psychopathic traits, MRT may be effective for reducing risk for criminal recidivism. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Psychometric properties of the Trauma Checklist 2.0 and its predictive utility of felony re-offending among high-risk juvenile offenders

BACKGROUND

Incarcerated youth are characterized by particularly high rates of childhood trauma, a significant risk factor for outcomes including risky behaviors and recidivism. Trauma-based interventions can ameliorate the negative effects of childhood trauma; however, a critical part of success is careful trauma screening. Due to the limitations associated with commonly used self-report trauma assessments, our team developed the Trauma Checklist (TCL), a trained-rater assessment of childhood trauma specifically created for use with forensic populations. The TCL is designed to provide a more comprehensive assessment of trauma, incorporating categories that are of specific relevance for incarcerated individuals (e.g., traumatic loss). Here, we discuss the continued development made to our original trauma assessment and explore the psychometric properties of this expanded assessment (herein termed the TCL 2.0).

METHOD

We examined relationships between TCL 2.0 scores, measures of psychopathology, and psychopathic traits in a sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders (n = 237). In addition, we examined whether TCL 2.0 scores were associated with time to felony re-offense via Cox proportional-hazard regression analyses.

RESULTS

We examined dimensionality of the TCL 2.0 using a principal component analysis (PCA), the results of which were confirmed via exploratory structural equation modeling; the PCA yielded a two-component solution (i.e., PC1 and PC2). We observed that PC1 (Experienced Trauma) scores were positively correlated with mood disorder diagnoses. TCL 2.0 total scores were positively correlated with post-traumatic stress disorder symptomatology and psychopathic traits. Finally, higher PC2 (Community Trauma) scores were associated with faster time to felony re-offending.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that the TCL 2.0 may be a beneficial screening tool to provide high-risk youth with appropriate trauma-informed treatment.

Psychopathic traits and altered resting-state functional connectivity in incarcerated adolescent girls

Previous work in incarcerated boys and adult men and women suggest that individuals scoring high on psychopathic traits show altered resting-state limbic/paralimbic, and default mode functional network properties. However, it is unclear whether similar results extend to high-risk adolescent girls with elevated psychopathic traits. This study examined whether psychopathic traits [assessed via the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)] were associated with altered inter-network connectivity, intra-network connectivity (i.e., functional coherence within a network), and amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFFs) across resting-state networks among high-risk incarcerated adolescent girls (n = 40). Resting-state networks were identified by applying group independent component analysis (ICA) to resting-state fMRI scans, and a priori regions of interest included limbic, paralimbic, and default mode network components. We tested the association of psychopathic traits (PCL:YV Factor 1 measuring affective/interpersonal traits and PCL:YV Factor 2 assessing antisocial/lifestyle traits) to these three resting-state measures. PCL:YV Factor 1 scores were associated with increased low-frequency and decreased high-frequency fluctuations in components corresponding to the default mode network, as well as increased intra-network FNC in components corresponding to cognitive control networks. PCL:YV Factor 2 scores were associated with increased low-frequency fluctuations in sensorimotor networks and decreased high-frequency fluctuations in default mode, sensorimotor, and visual networks. Consistent with previous analyses in incarcerated adult women, our results suggest that psychopathic traits among incarcerated adolescent girls are associated with altered intra-network ALFFs-primarily that of increased low-frequency and decreased high-frequency fluctuations-and connectivity across multiple networks including paralimbic regions. These results suggest stable neurobiological correlates of psychopathic traits among women across development.