TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2014//
TI  - To tell or not to tell? Psychopathic traits and response integrity in youth delinquency surveys
JO  - Criminal behaviour and mental health
A1  - Laajasalo, Taina
A1  - Aronen, Eeva T.
A1  - Saukkonen, Suvi
A1  - Salmi, Venla
A1  - Aaltonen, Mikko
A1  - Kivivuori, Janne
SP  - 81
EP  - 93
VL  - 26
IS  - 2
N2  - BACKGROUND: Individuals with high psychopathy scores are capable of providing valid self-reports on their own personality traits, but there have been no empirical studies of the effect of psychopathic features on responding to sensitive survey questions about specific behaviours. AIMS: The aim of this study is to investigate any relationship between facets of psychopathy and participants' willingness to report antisocial acts in youth delinquency surveys, controlling for demographic variables known to be associated with response integrity. <br><br>METHODS: In a nationally representative sample of 4,855 Finnish mainstream adolescents aged 15-16, honesty of responding was assessed through direct response integrity questions related to violence, property crime and drug use. Psychopathy was measured with the Antisocial Process Screening Device - Self Report (APSD-SR). <br><br>RESULTS: Callous-unemotional traits and, to a lesser degree, narcissistic features were associated with a dishonest response style, although the effect size was modest. <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Although psychopathy does not seem to influence the capability and willingness to report personality traits accurately, it may be associated with endorsing dishonest responses to questions about specific behaviours that have possible repercussions. Our findings suggest that previously observed associations between adolescents' self-reported delinquent behaviour and psychopathic traits may be underestimations of the strength of the effects. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0957-9664
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cbm.1940
ID  - ref1
ER  -