TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - Psychological and behavioral adjustment in female youths with high or low psychopathic traits
JO  - International journal of law and psychiatry
A1  - Pechorro, Pedro Santos
A1  - Poiares, Carlos Alberto
A1  - Vieira, Rui Xavier
A1  - Maroco, João
A1  - Nunes, Cristina
A1  - de Jesus, Saul Neves
SP  - 619
EP  - 627
VL  - 37
IS  - 6
N2  - The aim of the present study was to analyze the role of psychopathic traits in female juvenile delinquency. Using a sample of 236 young females from the Juvenile Detention Centers of the Portuguese Ministry of Justice and schools in the Lisbon area, a group of female youths with high psychopathic traits (n=118; M=15.84years of age; range=14-18years of age) and a group of female youths with low psychopathic traits (n=118; M=15.77years of age; range=14-18years of age) were formed based on the Portuguese version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device-Self-report (APSD-SR). The results showed that young females with high psychopathic traits start engaging in criminal activities and come into contact with the justice system earlier in life; exhibit higher levels of behavioral problems, conduct disorder, delinquent behaviors and serious criminality; and demonstrate lower levels of self-esteem and pro-social behavior. The importance of some variables in predicting group membership (high versus low psychopathic traits) was established through a binary logistic regression. Our findings reinforce the importance of the psychopathy construct for the early identification of potentially high-risk female youths and for the assessment of female youths who have already come into contact with the judicial system.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0160-2527
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2014.02.036
ID  - ref1
ER  -