Personality patterns predict the risk of antisocial behavior in Spanish-speaking adolescents

INTRODUCTION

There is a renewed interest in incorporating personality variables in criminology theories in order to build models able to integrate personality variables and biological factors with psychosocial and sociocultural factors. The aim of this article is the assessment of personality dimensions that contribute to the prediction of antisocial behavior in adolescents.

METHODS

For this purpose, a sample of adolescents from El Salvador, Mexico, and Spain was obtained. The sample consisted of 1035 participants with a mean age of 16.2. There were 450 adolescents from a forensic population (those who committed a crime) and 585 adolescents from the normal population (no crime committed). All of participants answered personality tests about neuroticism, extraversion, psychoticism, sensation seeking, impulsivity, and violence risk.

RESULTS

Principal component analysis of the data identified two independent factors: (i) the disinhibited behavior pattern (PDC), formed by the dimensions of neuroticism, psychoticism, impulsivity and risk of violence; and (ii) the extrovert behavior pattern (PEC), formed by the dimensions of sensation risk and extraversion. Both patterns significantly contributed to the prediction of adolescent antisocial behavior in a logistic regression model which properly classifies a global percentage of 81.9%, 86.8% for non-offense and 72.5% for offense behavior.

CONCLUSIONS

The classification power of regression equations allows making very satisfactory predictions about adolescent offense commission. Educational level has been classified as a protective factor, while age and gender (male) have been classified as risk factors.

Psychometric properties of the Plutchik´s Violence Risk Scale on adolescent sample of Spanish-speaking population

OBJETIVE

The objective of the present study was the validation and scaling of the Plutchik's Violence Risk Scale (EV) in adolescent Spanish-speaking population.

METHODS

For this purpose, a sample of adolescents from El Salvador, Mexico and Spain was obtained. The sample consisted of 1035 participants with a mean age of 16.2. There were 450 adolescents from forensic population (those who committed crime) and 585 adolescents from normal population (no crime committed).

RESULTS

The internal consistency of the EV was estimated by Cronbach's alpha coefficient and with a value of 0.782. As for validity, the factorial structures found explain a large proportion of the variance (53.385%); the convergent validity was estimated by the correlation between the dimensions found, the EV and sociodemographic, criminological and personality variables. The developed scales are presented, for the first time in a cross-cultural sample, differentiating between gender and continent.

CONCLUSIONS

Consequently, the obtained results suggest that the EV is a valid and reliable instrument within adolescent Spanish-speaking population. Furthermore, it is a quick scale, easy to apply, which is something valuable in forensic assessment.

Psychometric Properties of Plutchik’s Impulsivity Scale in Juvenile Spanishspeaking population

The objective of the present study was to validate and score the Plutchik´s Impulsivity Scale (IS) in adolescent offenders in Spanish-speaking population. A sample of adolescents from El Salvador, Mexico and Spain was obtained. The sample consisted of 1035 participants with a mean age of 16.2. The forensic population included 450 adolescents (those who committed an offense) and the normal population (no offense committed) 585 adolescents. The internal consistency of the IS was estimated by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, whose value was 0.713. Regarding validity, the factorial structures found showed the construct’s robustness because they explained a large proportion of the variance and extract factors that are stable for each subsample. The scales developed for the first time in a transcultural sample, differentiating gender and crime, are presented. Consequently, the results obtained suggest that the IS is a valid and reliable instrument within an adolescent Spanish-speaking population. It is a rapid to use and easy to apply scale, which is very valuable in forensic evaluation.