Citation

Boccaccini MT, Epstein M, Poythress N, Douglas KS, Campbell JC, Gardner G, Falkenbach D. Assessment 2007; 14(4): 361-374.

Affiliation

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77341, USA. boccaccini@shsu.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1073191107303569

PMID

17986654

Abstract

The authors examined the relation between self-report psychopathy measures and official records of offending in four samples of justice-involved youth (total N = 447). Psychopathy measures included the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) and a modified version of the Childhood Psychopathy Scale (mCPS). Measures of offending included the total number of preadmission arrest charges for three samples (n = 392) and the total number of offenses in the year following release for two samples (n = 138). Neither measure was a strong correlate of preadmission offenses. Although mCPS scores were associated with postrelease offending in one sample, effects for the APSD were observed only when reoffending was conceptualized as a dichotomous variable, indicating a lack of robustness in this association. The findings suggest caution in the use of self-report measures of psychopathic features for decision making with respect to issues of delinquency risk among justice-involved youth.

Language: en