ERIC Number: EJ971539
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012-Aug
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0091-0627
EISSN: N/A
Assessment of Psychopathic Traits in an Incarcerated Adolescent Sample: A Methodological Comparison
Fink, Brandi C.; Tant, Adam S.; Tremba, Katherine; Kiehl, Kent A.
Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, v40 n6 p971-986 Aug 2012
Analyses of convergent validity and group assignment using self-report, caregiver-report and interview-based measures of adolescent psychopathy were conducted in a sample of 160 incarcerated adolescents. Results reveal significant convergent validity between caregiver-report measures of adolescent psychopathy, significant convergent validity between self-report measures of adolescent psychopathy and an interviewer rating scale, but not between the caregiver-report measures and their corresponding self-report measures nor between the caregiver-report measures and the interviewer rating scale. Analyses of group assignment were also poorer than expected among all the measures with none evidencing significant agreement with the expert-rated device (Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version; PCL-YV), the most common forensic instrument used in clinical practice. Part of the poor agreement may be related to the poor psychometric performance of the callous-unemotional subscale of most of these measures and the low response rates from caregivers (N = 35). These findings suggest that the measures do not provide an interchangeable assessment of callous-unemotional traits and suggest that further refinement of the measurement of callous-unemotional traits in youth may be warranted.
Descriptors: Economically Disadvantaged, Caregivers, Rating Scales, Parent Child Relationship, Psychometrics, Test Validity, Psychopathology, Clinical Diagnosis, Feedback (Response), Institutionalized Persons, Measures (Individuals), Comparative Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A