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The present study investigates whether self-reported psychopathic traits moderate the relationships between delinquent career features (i.e., age of first detention in a juvenile detention center, crime frequency, crime diversity, crime charges, and Conduct Disorder) and 1-year general delinquency and violent delinquency recidivism outcomes. The sample was composed of male youth (N = 214, M = 16.4 years, SD = 1.3 years) originating from the juvenile detention centers managed by the Ministry of Justice of Portugal. Results mostly suggest that neither the Antisocial Process Screening Device––Self-Report total score nor its Callous-Unemotional, Impulsivity, and Narcissism factor scores moderate the relationships between the delinquent career variables and general and violent delinquency recidivism outcomes. The notable exception was the interaction between crime frequency and callous-unemotional traits in predicting general recidivism. The current findings question the relevance of self-reported psychopathic traits as moderators of recidivism among juveniles despite the general association between psychopathy and conduct problems among youth info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Psychopathic traits in community and referred youths are strongly associated with severe externalizing problems and low prosocial behavior. However, less is known about the mechanisms that may link youth psychopathy and these outcomes. Social dominance orientation (SDO), defined as the general individual orientation toward unequal and dominant/subordinate relationships, might represent a valuable construct to explore to better understand the association between psychopathic traits, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior. Based on this, the current study aimed to investigate the relationship between psychopathic traits, SDO, externalizing problems, and prosocial behavior in a community sample (N = 92, 45.57% females, mean age = 12.53, and SD = 0.60) and in a clinical (N = 29, 9% female, mean age = 12.57, and SD = 0.57) samples of adolescents with Oppositional Defiant Disorder or Conduct Disorder. Results showed that SDO mediated the relationship between psychopathic traits and externalizing problems and between psychopathic traits and prosocial behavior only in the clinical sample. These findings can provide valuable information on psychopathic trait correlates in youths with aggressive behavior disorders; treatment implications are discussed.

This preregistration is for Experiment 2 under the larger project. This study involves the use of a paradigm to assess approach behavior in response to stimuli hypothesized to be associated with activation of empathy, conceptualized as a “care drive” with associated behavioral predispositions. Experiment 2 for this study will involve a re-test for the basic effect on the fear-anger VAAST (repeating analyses from Experiment 1), with a stronger emphasis on moderating effects of individual differences. These individual difference moderators include 1) tendencies to respond with approach to infant faces (considered innate releasing stimuli for the care drive), (2) participant gender, and (3) trait empathic concern. The second goal is to examine to what extent there is potential moderation of fear-anger VAAST performance by psychopathic traits in particular, which are personality differences linked to deficits in empathy. Finally, participants will complete a rating/categorization task, to allow for examination of deliberate responses to the test stimuli (valence, arousal, and emotion categorization accuracy).

The aim of the present study was to examine construct validity and reliability of the German reactive proactive aggression questionnaire (RPQ) in a sample of delinquent boys ( N = 156). A confirmatory factor analysis with a two-factor model of reactive and proactive aggression showed a good fit to the data. The factor structure of the original RPQ could be fully replicated in the German translation, and Cronbach’s alphas were good for both subscales. Concurrent validity of the RPQ was demonstrated by significant correlations with the subscales of the inventory of callous unemotional traits. In future studies, the German RPQ can be used to assess reactive and proactive aggression in judicial and forensic psychiatric care in Germany. The present findings also provide support for the use of the RPQ in cross-cultural comparisons.

Background: Individuals with psychopathic traits have been identified to display insecure attachment. However, it is not clear which attachment dimension contributes more to high psychopathic traits, and more specifically to callous-unemotional (CU) traits, which parental relationship is more influential and if this differs across gender. Methods: This study examined the associations of adult attachment dimensions (avoidance and anxiety) and parental factors (regard, responsibility and control) with CU traits (N=1149) using Hierarchical Linear Regression. The relationship with both parents was assessed separately to identify their unique contribution to CU traits in males and females respectively. Results: The avoidant attachment positively predicted while the anxiety attachment dimension negatively predicted CU traits and this was the case for both male and female participants. Interestingly, maternal regard was a negative predictor of CU traits in males only, whereas paternal responsibility arose as a positive predictor of CU traits in females only. Attachment dimensions explained the largest variance in both males and females. Conclusions: Findings point to the importance of attachment dimensions contributing to CU traits even in an adult sample. Parental variables were less influential on CU traits compared to attachment related variables and findings suggest that there are differences between males and females. These findings have important implications for gender differentiated attachment based interventions for individuals with CU traits.

This is a sub-project of the RESIST (Research on Individual (Anti-) Social Trajectories) study. The current sub-project aims to increase our understanding of positive and negative self-evaluations in individuals with and without a history of antisocial behavior. We will also test the neural basis of (domain-specific) positive and negative self-concept endorsements, as well as individual differences in psychopathic traits to further elucidate the relationship between self-concept and antisocial behavior.

This study intends to examine how psychopathic traits affect the ability to recognise facial expressions of emotion in the general adult population. Participants will perform an online version of the Bristol Emotion Recognition Task (ERT) and complete self-report measures of psychopathic traits and mood (state and trait anxiety, and depression). The primary outcome is recognition accuracy assessed using the six-alternative forced-choice ERT.

This study tests the theory of low affective empathy in psychopathy, as measured by decreased affective resonance and empathic concern in response to sad emotional film clips. These clips have previously been shown to elicit emotional content-congruent affect ratings (i.e., sadness ratings) and empathic concern ratings (i.e., endorsement of "empathy" adjectives, including compassionate, tender, moved, sympathetic) in an unpublished Master's thesis. The present study builds on the past findings to examine the impact of psychopathic traits (as measured by the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure; TriPM) on affective resonance and empathic concern responses to the emotional film clips.

In this study, we will explore whether trait personal distress levels differentially predict empathic accuracy in individuals with high-trait psychopathy in situations where the motivation to empathize is high (i.e., teammates/ingroup) and/or low (i.e., opponents/outgroup).

The importance of psychopathy in the forensic and criminal justice domains is largely due to its robust associations with aggression and violent behavior. Hence, investigators have increasingly been interested in elucidating potential mechanisms linking psychopathy and aggression. Recent research highlighted previously overlooked associations between psychopathy and difficulties in emotion regulation, the process responsible for monitoring, evaluating, and managing one’s emotional experience, as well as for guiding behavior under intense emotional arousal. Yet, it remains unclear whether emotion dysregulation may be helpful to explain well-documented associations between psychopathy and aggression. The present study examined whether emotion dysregulation mediated associations (i.e., explained a significant portion of the shared variance) between psychopathy and aggression across community ( N = 521) and offender ( N = 268) samples. Participants completed self-report measures of psychopathy, emotion dysregulation, trait aggressiveness (i.e., anger, hostility, physical and verbal aggression), as well as reactive and proactive aggression. Across both samples, psychopathy had significant indirect effect on all indices of aggression through emotion dysregulation, with the exception of verbal aggression. These findings support the relevance of emotion regulation for the construct of psychopathy and its maladaptive correlates and highlight the potential relevance of focusing on emotion regulation as a possible target for interventions aimed at reducing aggression among individuals with psychopathic traits.

Purpose This paper aims to explore the sexuality of individuals with psychopathic traits. Sexuality is not only a physiological need but also a way by which people connect to others. According to a Darwinian perspective, psychopathic traits are seen as adaptive responses to environmental conditions, and as a nonpathological and reproductively viable life history strategy, although superficial emotionality and a detached interpersonal style characterise individuals who are high on psychopathic traits. Design/methodology/approach Data from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development are analysed. This is a prospective longitudinal study of 411 London males, with face-to-face interviews from 8 to 48 years of age. Findings Men who are high on psychopathic traits were likely to drift from one relationship to another, without a particular attachment to any of them, and to be sexually promiscuous. They never used contraception, which increased their likelihood of having several children from different partners. Practical implications Findings provide an insight into the non-criminal sexual behaviour of males with high psychopathic traits; evidence on a pattern of unsafe/risky sexual relations by males with high psychopathic traits; information on targeting risk factors to prevent the intergenerational transmission of psychopathy. Originality/value These findings are significant in highlighting the impact of psychopathic traits upon interpersonal and family dynamics in community samples, as detecting the impact of problematic intimate relationships is difficult in the absence of evident criminality. Rather than completely neglecting their children, men with psychopathic traits spent time with their sons but not with their daughters.

Outre les milieux carcéraux et psychiatriques, les traits de personnalité et les comportements associés à la psychopathie se retrouveraient chez des personnes non-institutionnalisées. Plusieurs chercheurs soulèvent que le recrutement des personnes qui possèdent un niveau élevé de traits psychopathiques représente un réel défi (Benning et al., 2018; Dinn et Harris, 2000; Mullins-Sweatt et al., 2010 et Ndiaye, 2009). Par conséquent, déterminer une méthode de recrutement efficace serait bénéfique, épargnant du temps et des coûts aux chercheurs qui recrutent de trop grands échantillons sans avoir accès à la population cible (Patrick et al., 1998). Ainsi, l’objectif du mémoire est d’évaluer l’efficacité de trois annonces visant à cibler spécifiquement les personnes qui possèdent un niveau élevé de traits psychopathiques au sein de la communauté. La première annonce est une traduction renversée de celle de Widom (1977), soit : « Nous recherchons des personnes charmantes, agressives, insouciantes, qui sont impulsivement irresponsables, mais bons pour manipuler les autres et égoïstes ». La seconde est conforme à la méthode utilisée par Chapleau (2015) et DeMatteo et al. (2005), étant : « Êtes-vous charmeur, intelligent, aventureux, combatif et êtes-vous souvent porté à agir sous le coup de l’impulsion? Avez-vous tendance à vous ennuyer rapidement et cherchez-vous à profiter de la vie au maximum? ». Finalement, la dernière annonce consiste à solliciter les participants pour une étude portant sur la personnalité. L’échantillon de 969 participants se divise en trois groupes dépendamment de l’annonce à laquelle ils ont été exposés, remplissant un même questionnaire composé du Self-Report Psychopathy Scale III (SRP-III; Paulhus et al., sous presse) et du Levenson self-report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP; Levenson et al., 1995). L’annonce qui semble la plus efficace est celle de Widom (1977), qui a permis de recruter le niveau moyen de psychopathie le plus élevé. Ce faisant, les chercheurs qui s’intéressent aux personnes possédant les caractéristiques affectives, interpersonnelles et comportementales associées à la psychopathie pourront utiliser cette annonce., Personality traits and behaviors associated with psychopathy have often been found in environments such as prisons and psychiatric institutions. These traits can also be found among individuals living in the community. However, recruiting individuals showing various levels of psychopathy is challenging for researchers (Benning et al., 2018; Dinn et Harris, 2000; Mullins-Sweatt et al., 2010 et Ndiaye, 2009). In order to help researchers who are recruiting large community, it would be beneficial to refine recruiting procedures (Patrick et al., 1998). Therefore, the goal of the present thesis was to evaluate the efficiency of three recruitment procedure that can be used to specifically target people in the community who have some level of psychopathic traits. The first advertisement is a back translation in French of Widom (1977) : “Wanted: charming, aggressive, carefree people who are impulsively irresponsible but are good at handling people and at looking after number one”. The second was taken from Chapleau (2015) and DeMatteo et al. (2005) : “Are you charming, intelligent, adventurous, combative, and impulsive? Do you get bored easily and like to live life on the edge?”. Finally, the last advertisement is to recruit participants for a study on personality. A sample of 969 participants was divided into three groups depending on which ad they were exposed. All participants answering the same questionnaires including the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale III (SRP-III; Paulhus et al., sous presse) and the Levenson self-report Psychopathy Scale (LSRP; Levenson et al., 1995). The recruitment procedure used by Widom (1977) was found to be the most effective in that it allowed the recruitment of the highest average of psychopathy. It is recommended that researchers who are interested in people having affective traits, interpersonal traits and behaviors associated with psychopathy can use this recruitment procedure.

Background Alexithymic and psychopathic traits are closely associated, but distinct constructs. Both have been associated with facial emotion processing deficits reflecting empathy deficits, however the underlying mechanism contributing to these deficits is not well-understood. Methods This study investigated facial emotion recognition performance in a non-clinical sample (N = 110) including both male and female participants, with varying levels of psychopathic and alexithymic traits. Facial emotion recognition was assessed using a computerized task, that presented different expressions depicting five emotional states (pain, fear, sadness, anger, happiness) and neutral expressions. Results Results suggest that the high psychopathic traits group reported lower accuracy compared to the low psychopathic traits group, indicating a more generalized deficit in facial affect recognition, across all emotions. The alexithymic groups (high vs. low) on the other hand did not differ in their performance on the task for any of the emotions presented. Conclusion These findings add to the current body of research regarding face processing categorization deficits in relation to psychopathic and alexithymic traits and can inform prevention and intervention efforts that aim to facilitate facial emotion recognition in individuals with these personality traits.

Individuals with antisocial behavior and psychopathic traits are characterized by deficits in processing facial expressions, which results in poor social adaptation and dysfunctional interpersonal relationships. However, it is not clear how individuals with varying levels of these traits differ in this emotional impairment and if these deficits are due to correctly identifying or reacting appropriately to facial expressions. The aim of the study was to examine how individuals with these traits recognized and responded to affective facial expressions by using FaceReader software (which analyses footage of faces) across different experimental conditions (imitation, suppression, and control). Imitating facial expressions was introduced to examine whether it could direct participants’ attention to the facial cues and improve participants’ performance on the facial task. A total of 643 individuals from the community were pre-screened and a sample (N = 107; M age = 21.08, SD = 1.55), differentiated on levels of antisocial personality disorder (APD) symptoms and psychopathic (PSY) traits, who were selected based on extreme scores (high/low), were invited to participate in the study. Individuals with higher levels of APD symptoms and PSY traits (APD + PSY) expressed more anger than other groups, while those in the APD-only group expressed more sadness, compared to other groups. Overall, participants were compliant in following the instructions to imitate facial expressions. However, only the group with predominantly APD symptoms and the group with combined symptoms (APD + PSY) showed improvement in their accuracy ratings specifically when instructed to imitate facial expressions, compared to when no instructions were provided. The study offers a promising direction for targeting deficits in facial emotion recognition, suggesting that the deficits found in individuals with behavioral problems (with and without psychopathic traits) can be improved by asking them to imitate facial expressions.

Callous Unemotional (CU) traits are an informative clinical construct, identifying individuals at risk of conduct disorder and treatment resistance. This thesis examines associative processes that may underlie this resistance. Specifically, extinction learning processes, which allow individuals to maintain expectations that match the outcomes of their behaviour. It is often assumed that there is an established link between CU traits and deficient associative learning of this kind. However, a systematic review of the current literature, described in this thesis, reveals that the evidence for this relationship is not consistent. This finding indicated the need for a study of this correlation using a well powered experimental methodology. As a result, six studies were carried out to develop a computer-based task able to measure extinction learning in large samples from the general population, with CU traits assessed using the Inventory of Callous Unemotional Traits (ICU). Findings from this series included repeated observations of CU trait associated extinction deficits. They also provided unique data on whether CU traits affect the relapse of extinguished behaviour. Furthermore, an unanticipated effect of cultural factors was observed. In consideration of these findings, observed parameters were utilised in the design of a large-scale confirmatory study with over 700 participants. This study also investigated the role of cultural variables in the structure and external validity of the ICU, as well as its association with extinction learning. This thesis therefore provides useful data on the relationship between CU traits and extinction learning, as well as on the cross- cultural validity of the ICU, representing a significant contribution to our understanding of the aetiology and phenotypic characteristics of CU traits.

Acord transformatiu CRUE-CSIC The current study examined the psychometric properties (factor structure, reliability and validity) of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth et al., 2003) in Spanish samples of male justice-involved youths between 15 and 22-years old. The PCL:YV was administered to two groups of youths who were incarcerated (n = 62; n = 95) and a sample of youth on probation (n = 122). Confirmatory factor analyses showed acceptable-to-good fit for three- and four-factor models. The four-factor hierarchical model with a second-order higher factor representing the whole psychopathy construct was considered for further analyses. PCL:YV scores showed high internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Low-to-moderate convergence with other measures of psychopathic traits evinced an adequate convergent validity. Convergent and discriminant validity of the PCL:YV total scores were also confirmed considering several measures of psychopathology and personality traits. Importantly, the differential external correlates of the PCL:YV factors provide support for a multidimensional conceptualization of the psychopathy construct. Altogether, these results reveal adequate psychometric properties of the PCL:YV in Spanish population of justice-involved youths and justifies its use to assess psychopathic traits in this kind of populations.

The present study aims to further examine the four-factor model of psychopathy in adolescence with a new alternate model for the assessment of psychopathic traits and conduct disorder (CD): The Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder-Short version (PSCD-SV). Data were collected in a sample of 414 adolescents (49.2% females) aged 12–15 at the first assessment who were then followed-up 2 years later. Results supported the usefulness of the PSCD-SV to assess the broader construct of psychopathy showing good psychometric properties, including adequate reliability and validity, while accounting for all its dimensions. In addition, the study showed close associations between psychopathic traits and adolescent behavioral, emotional and psychosocial maladjustment. Finally, the findings elucidated the PSCD’s connection to parental support and psychological control, and reinforced the potential role of parenting practices as predictors that can act as mechanisms of change in the development of psychopathy. Overall, current findings shed light on conceptual and developmental models of psychopathy that may have implications for assessment, diagnostic classification, prevention, and intervention Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This research was partially funded by Xunta de Galicia under the Programa de Axudas á Etapa Posdoutoral (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria; 2017, 2019 and 2021) and the Consolidation and structuring of competitive research units and other promotional actions in the universities of the SUG; GRC, 2018 SI

Dissertação de mestrado integrado em Psicologia, A literatura tem mostrado que os maus-tratos na infância estão associados à delinquência. Contudo, ainda desconhecemos os mecanismos que explicam esta relação. Este artigo tem como principal objetivo estudar o papel mediador dos traços psicopáticos na relação entre os maus-tratos e a delinquência juvenil. A amostra foi recolhida numa escola do centro de Portugal, no âmbito de um estudo longitudinal, com 370 participantes, com idades compreendidas entre os 13 e os 21 anos e foram avaliados através de questionários referentes aos traços psicopáticos, delinquência e sobre experiências de maus-tratos. Os resultados mostram que os traços psicopáticos medeiam parcialmente a relação entre os maus-tratos na infância e delinquência. Estes resultados sugerem que os traços psicopáticos ajudam a explicar a relação entre os maus-tratos na infância e a delinquência., Literature has shown that child abuse is associated with delinquency. However, we do not understand the mechanisms that explain this relationship. The main objective of this article is to study the mediating role of psychopathic traits in the relationship between abuse and juvenile delinquency. The sample was collected in a school in central Portugal, within the scope of a longitudinal study, with 370 participants, aged between 13 and 21 years old, and were evaluated through questionnaires referring to psychopathic traits, delinquency, and about experiences of maltreatment. The results show that psychopathic traits partially mediate the relationship between childhood maltreatment and delinquency. These results suggest that psychopathic traits help to explain the relationship between childhood maltreatment and delinquency.

The current study examined the psychometric properties (factor structure, reliability and validity) of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth et al., 2003) in Spanish samples of male justice-involved youths between 15 and 22-years old. The PCL:YV was administered to two groups of youths who were incarcerated (n= 62; n= 95) and a sample of youth on probation (n=122). Confrmatory factor analyses showed acceptable-to-good ft for three- and four-factor models. The fourfactor hierarchical model with a second-order higher factor representing the whole psychopathy construct was considered for further analyses. PCL:YV scores showed high internal consistency and inter-rater reliability. Low-to-moderate convergence with other measures of psychopathic traits evinced an adequate convergent validity. Convergent and discriminant validity of the PCL:YV total scores were also confrmed considering several measures of psychopathology and personality traits. Importantly, the diferential external correlates of the PCL:YV factors provide support for a multidimensional conceptualization of the psychopathy construct. Altogether, these results reveal adequate psychometric properties of the PCL:YV in Spanish population of justice-involved youths and justifes its use to assess psychopathic traits in this kind of populations. Open Access Funding provided by Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona. A.I. is recipient of a Ph.D. fellowship by the Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca of Generalitat de Catalunya and European Social Fund [FI-DGR 2017]. This research was financially supported by the ‘Fundació Marató’ of TV3; the Centre d’Estudis Jurídics i Formació Especialitzada, Government of Catalonia [DOGC Núm. 7024–23.12.05; DOGC Núm. 7274–27/12/16]; the Departament d’Economia i Coneixement, Generalitat de Catalunya [2014SGR-1587], and by the Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad, Spanish Government [PSI2015–67441-R]. The funding organizations had no further role in the study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the report; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

Using still pictures of emotional facial expressions as experimental stimuli, reduced amygdala responses or impaired recognition of basic emotions were repeatedly found in people with psychopathic traits. The amygdala also plays an important role in short-latency facial mimicry responses. Since dynamic emotional facial expressions may have higher ecological validity than still pictures, we compared short-latency facial mimicry responses to dynamic and static emotional expressions between adolescents with psychopathic traits and normal controls. Facial EMG responses to videos or still pictures of emotional expressions (happiness, anger, sadness, fear) were measured. Responses to 500-ms dynamic expressions in videos, as well as the subsequent 1500-ms phase of maximal (i.e., static) expression, were compared between male adolescents with disruptive behavior disorders and high (n = 14) or low (n = 17) callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and normal control subjects (n = 32). Responses to still pictures were also compared between groups. EMG responses to dynamic expressions were generally significantly smaller in the high-CU group than in the other two groups, which generally did not differ. These group differences gradually emerged during the 500-ms stimulus presentation period but in general they were already seen a few hundred milliseconds after stimulus onset. Group differences were absent during the 1500-ms phase of maximal expression and during exposure to still pictures. Subnormal short-latency mimicry responses to dynamic emotional facial expressions in the high-CU group might have negative consequences for understanding emotional facial expressions of others during daily life when human facial interactions are primarily dynamic.

Research on the relationship between psychopathy and leadership effectiveness has adopted very different perspectives on psychopathy. To advance this field of research, the current paper introduces an overarching framework of “successful psychopathy” ( Lilienfeld, Watts, & Smith, 2015 ) to the leadership domain, comprising three conceptual models (the differential-severity model, the moderated-expression model, and the differential-configuration model) and their “hybrid” forms, which are combinations of two or three models. We test the three alternative conceptual models and four hybrid models in two independent samples of leader-subordinate dyads (N1 = 178 and N2 = 668) whereby leaders’ self-reported psychopathy is related to a range of subordinate-rated effectiveness criteria, including three performance dimensions and charismatic leadership. A recurrent pattern of findings across both studies provides evidence for differential effects for the various psychopathy subdimensions, whereas little support was found for the models assuming curvilinear and/or moderated effects. Implications for research on leader psychopathy are discussed.

Psychopathic personality traits can be conceptualized as a complex network of adaptive and maladaptive traits. Although general positive adjustment has been related to primary psychopathy and increased emotional stability, no study focused on the distribution of specific adaptive traits through psychopathy variants. Participants were 2,291 French college students who completed self-report questionnaires. A cluster analysis, based on a 4-factor model of psychopathy (Antagonism, Narcissism, Disinhibition, and Emotional Stability), was performed on a subsample with increased psychopathic traits (n = 378) and yielded 3 distinct groups: a primary psychopathy cluster, a secondary psychopathy cluster, and an emotionally stable-low antagonism cluster. The primary psychopathy cluster displayed the highest scores of Leadership, Logical Thinking, Focus, Management, and Money Smart, whereas the emotionally stable-low antagonism cluster had the highest scores of Composure and Extraversion. Conversely, the secondary psychopathy cluster exhibited reduced adaptive psychopathic traits. These results suggest that adaptive psychopathic traits are inconsistently distributed between psychopathy subtypes. Interaction effects between main factors of psychopathy are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

A long tradition of theoretical and empirical work has described different variants (or subtypes) of psychopathy, in an attempt to delineate similarities and differences among constellations of psychopathic traits. Research in this area has the potential to increase our understanding of the etiology of different psychopathy variants, their associated risk, and protective factors, as well as to inform the development of tailored interventions. Drawing on data from a large, representative sample of referred boys incarcerated in the United States (N = 629; Mage = 15.49 years, SD = 1.23), the current study adopted a person-centered approach to identify variants of incarcerated youth based on scores on the 8 Psychopathic Personality Inventory-Short Form (PPI-SF) subscales. Latent profile analysis results identified 5 variants of youth: a high-psychopathy variant, a variant with moderate psychopathy scores, and 3 variants with distinct elevations on some PPI-SF subscales. Over one third of the participants had substantially high levels of psychopathic traits, and high levels of psychopathy were associated with a severe history of delinquency. Latent profile analysis findings also supported traditional and contemporary perspectives on psychopathy variants according to which different constellations of psychopathic traits are associated with different degrees of delinquent behavior, internalizing symptoms, substance use, and victimization. Finally, it appears that, individually, none of the trait domains assessed by the PPI-SF can explain differences across variants, and that it is the co-occurrence of all of the features that characterizes the most severe form of psychopathy. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

The present study sought to replicate and extend current knowledge on the relevance of emotion regulation (ER) for psychopathy. In a large sample of incarcerated adult males ( N = 578), latent profile analysis (LPA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) were employed to examine person- and variable-centered associations between self-reported ER and both self-report and clinical ratings of psychopathy. With LPA, participants were classified into three profiles corresponding to low, medium, and high ER. The low-ER profile displayed higher affective traits across psychopathy assessments compared with the other profiles. The same pattern of findings was evident for overt behavioral features of psychopathy, but not for interpersonal traits. SEM results were consistent with LPA findings: interpersonal (positively), affective, and lifestyle (negatively) facets had unique associations with a superordinate ER latent variable. Findings replicate and extend prior associations between psychopathy and ER and suggest differential links between ER and affective and interpersonal traits of psychopathy.

The Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder (PSCD) scale (Salekin & Hare, 2016) was developed as a measure of the broader construct of psychopathy in childhood and adolescence. In addition to conduct disorder (CD) symptoms, the PSCD addresses the interpersonal (grandiose-manipulative), affective (callous-unemotional), and lifestyle (daring-impulsive) traits of psychopathic personality. The PSCD can be scored by parents and teachers. The present study is a preliminary test of the psychometric properties of the PSCD-Parent Version in a sample of 2,229 children aged 3 to 6 years. Confirmatory factor analyses supported both a 3- and 4-factor structure being invariant across gender groups. The validity of the PSCD was also supported by convergent-divergent associations with an alternative measure of psychopathic traits as well as by the expected relations with fearlessness, conduct problems, reactive and proactive aggression, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and oppositional defiant disorder symptoms, and social competence skills. Overall, the PSCD is a promising alternative measure for assessing early manifestation of the broader construct of psychopathy in children. Its use should facilitate discussion of the conceptualization, assessment, predictive value, and clinical usefulness of the psychopathic construct as it relates to CD at early developmental stages. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits and male gender are both known risk factors for poor academic outcomes in children and adolescents. However, despite gender differences in CU trait severity, comorbid difficulties and correlates of CU traits, research has yet to examine whether the CU traits and male gender may work together to increase risk for poor academic performance. That is, whether boys high in CU traits perform more poorly across academic disciplines than girls high in these traits. This study therefore aimed to investigate i) the relationships between CU traits, student gender and English, Science and Math grades, and ii) whether gender moderates the association between CU traits and academic outcomes. Participants were 437 children aged 11 to 14 years (mean age 12.50 years; 49% girls; 85% White) attending a state secondary school in England. Students reported on CU traits and externalizing problems and their English, Math and Science grades were gathered from school records. Using hierarchical linear modelling, CU traits were found to be significantly related to lower English, Math and Science grades when controlling for age, gender, sociodemographic disadvantage and externalizing problems. CU traits were significantly related to lower Science grades for boys but not girls. However, gender did not moderate the association between CU traits for English or Math grades. Findings enhance our understanding of how child characteristics may interact to increase the likelihood of poor school outcomes, and therefore help us to identify youth at-risk for poor academic performance.

Background: The aim was to assess the effects of a training program inclusive of contact sports and counseling on school dropout, quality of life (QoL) and psychopathologic symptoms in the youth with a history of school dropout and psychopathic personality traits. Methods: The Experimental Group (EG) consisted of 32 subjects (male 90.6%; age 19.6±4.3 years); the Control Group (CG) consisted of an equal number matched for gender and age with the same psychological features. At the beginning of the experimental Training Program (T0), both cohorts were assessed by a diagnostic psychiatric interview (SCID ANTAS), the Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) to evaluate QoL, the Psychopathy Checklist - Revised (PCL-R) for the assessment of psychopathic traits, the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SRQ) to measure general psychopathology. At the end of the program (T1), the coorths were evaluated by SF-12 and SRQ. Results: Twenty-seven subjects in the EG (84.4%) completed the course and underwent the evaluation at T1. The SF-12 score significantly increased from T0 to T1 in both groups, albeit this was more evident in the EG than in the CG, owing to an interaction between time and group. SRQ score significantly decreased in the EG from T0 to T1, while in the CG it did not, although the interaction between time and group was not significant. Conclusion: The experimental training program was effective in improving QoL and countering school dropout in young citizens with psychopathic traits. Further studies are needed to clarify if such results are due to a relationship between the practical tasks approach including contact sports and an improvement in mentalization processes.

The role of psychopathic traits in predicting more serious and persistent patterns of child conduct problems has been well documented. The jointly presence of interpersonal (grandiose–deceitful), affective (e.g., callous–unemotional), and behavioral psychopathic traits (impulsive–need of stimulation) identifies a group of children at increased risk of psychosocial maladjustment. The present study aims to disentangle the underlying mechanisms by examining how early parenting (i.e., warmth) and child temperament (i.e., fearlessness) predict later psychopathic traits, via conscience development (CD). Data were collected in a large sample of children (n = 2.266, 48.5% girls), aged 3 to 6 at the onset of the study (Mage = 4.25, SD = 0.91), who were followed up one and two years later. The results showed direct effects from fearlessness to interpersonal and behavioral psychopathic traits. Parental warmth, fearless temperament, and their interaction, predicted CD, which, in turn, showed a negative effect on psychopathic traits. The indirect effects indicated significant negative mediation effects of warmth through CD on psychopathic traits, which seem to be stronger when children present lower levels of fearlessness. Overall, these results contribute to better understand the development of child psychopathic traits and provide additional insight on effective strategies that will help to restrain the potential development of a high-risk profile in early childhood.

Social cognition is the ability to identify, understand, and interpret mental states and emotions. Psychopathic traits are typically described in two ways; Primary: shallow affect, emotional detachment, and relationship difficulties, and Secondary Psychopathic Traits: antisocial traits, impulsiveness, and emotional dysregulation. People with high psychopathic traits tend to perform lower on measures of social cognition. This study investigated the relationship of social cognition (mentalising) to primary and secondary psychopathic traits in a non-clinical sample, and investigated the psychometric properties of the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) Short Forms (A and B). A community-based male sample (N = 1,000; age range 18–78) was recruited through an online platform. Psychopathic traits were measured using Levenson, Kiehl, and Fitzpatrick's Self-Report Psychopathy Scale, and stratified into Primary and Secondary Psychopathic traits. Secondary validation of the RMET Short Forms was completed investigating scale reliability, and validity. Findings suggest excellent psychometrics in a large community cohort for the RMET Short Forms (A and B), with significant negative correlations on social cognitive performance and high self-report psychopathy. The item valence within the social cognitive measure (positive, negative, and neutral affect stimuli) was also examined, and correlated significantly with both Primary and Secondary Psychopathic traits. This study provides further validation of the RMET Short Forms (A and B), and adds to the literature on the scale by investigating performance on short-form specific valence. This study further suggests that in a non-clinical community sample of males, that higher psychopathic traits correlated significantly, and negatively, with social cognitive performance.

This work evaluated the cross-sectional and longitudinal (i.e., over four months) impact of attachment to mother, father, and peers on three psychopathic traits (i.e., grandiose-manipulative, callous-unemotional, and impulsive-irresponsible) using a community adolescent sample, and if that impact was differentiated by gender. Though there is evidence for the relevance of attachment on psychopathy, little was derived from adolescent samples or considered diverse attachment figures that play a role in adolescents’ psychosocial development. A sample of 279 adolescents (aged 15 to 21 years; 58.4% female) was asked to self-report on their perceived quality of attachment to parents and peers and on psychopathic traits. Results show evidence for the cross-sectional and longitudinal impact of attachment on psychopathic traits: specifically, attachment to parents is linked with the grandiose-manipulative and impulsive-irresponsible psychopathic traits, whereas attachment to peers relates with the callousunemotional trait. Predictive pathways were overall similar between boys and girls. These results sustain the importance of considering attachment when trying to understand and intervene in antisocial adolescent behavior, namely by adopting a more generalized perspective on who may play a protective role in relation to the development of each psychopathic trait.

The containment measures imposed during the first COVID-19 outbreak required economic, social, and behavioral changes to minimize the spread of the coronavirus. Some studies have focused on how personality predicts distinct patterns of adherence to protective measures with psychopathic and antisocial traits predicting reduced engagement in such measures. In this study we extended previous findings by analyzing how boldness, meanness, and disinhibition psychopathic traits relate with both risk perceptions and protective behaviors during the first COVID-19 outbreak. A sample of 194 individuals (24% male) engaged in the survey, were assessed for psychopathic traits with the Triarchic Psychopathy Measure, and completed a COVID-19 survey targeting risk perceptions (spread, risk of becoming infected, state anxiety toward the COVID-19, and perceived risk of specific behaviors) and frequency of protective behaviors (e.g., not engaging in social distancing). Overall results show that boldness predicts reduced estimate of COVID-19 spread, reduced perceived risk of becoming infected, reduced state anxiety toward COVID-19, and reduced frequency of protective behaviors. Exploratory mediation models suggest that risk perceptions are not significant mediators of the association between psychopathic traits and reduced engagement in protective behaviors. Our results unveil that psychopathic traits affect risk perceptions and the propensity to engage in protective measures, emphasizing the need to accommodate these personality features in the public health strategy to control the COVID-19 spread.

Purpose To examine prognostic and incremental values of grandiose-deceitful interpersonal style, callous-unemotional traits and impulsivity-need for stimulation, and their ability to predict conduct problems and different types of aggressive behavior above and beyond well-established risk factors, including early childhood hyperactivity, aggression, and parenting styles in a community sample of very young children. Methods Using data from the ECLAT study, a 5-year prospective/longitudinal study of 175 elementary school children in Croatia (80 boys/95 girls; MFirst_assessment = 5.28 years and MLast_assessment = 10.33 years), hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to evaluate the utility of children's psychopathy features. Results Analyses revealed that, after controlling for individual and parenting risk factors at age 5, only impulsivity-need for stimulation was an independent, albeit weak, predictor of conduct problems at age 10, but not aggression. In addition, the multidimensional child psychopathy construct (i.e., high levels on all three psychopathic traits) at age 5 in combination with concurrent conduct problems was the strongest predictor of future negative outcomes above and beyond other risk factors, but only of conduct problems. Conclusions After both individual and parenting factors are taken into account, psychopathic traits individually have limited usefulness when predicting future antisocial behavior but may be important in prediction when all three psychopathic traits are elevated and co-occur with conduct problems in a community sample of young children.

The association between psychopathic traits and conduct problems has been extensively analyzed, with results showing a significant predictive effect of psychopathic traits on later conduct problems. However, some recent research has evidenced some reversed effects, with early-onset conduct problems also showing a significant effect on psychopathic traits. The present study aimed to examine the longitudinal effects (i.e., autoregressive, direct, and bidirectional) between the three psychopathy dimensions (i.e., interpersonal, affective, and behavioral), and conduct problems in two data collections spanning one year (T1-T2). The potential mediation effect from inconsistent parenting and parental warmth was also analyzed. Data were collected, trough parents’ reports, in a sample of 1.833 children (48.8% girls; Mage = 4.24; SD = 0.92), participating in the ELISA study (Longitudinal Study for a Healthy Childhood). A cross-lagged path analysis with mediation effects was performed in Mplus. Results showed autoregressive, direct and bidirectional effects between psychopathic traits and conduct problems. Hence, whilst T1 conduct problems predicted all psychopathy dimensions in T2, only callous-unemotional and impulsive/need of stimulation traits measured in T1 predicted conduct problems in T2. Finally, some marginal mediation effects from inconsistent parenting and parental warmth were also observed, particularly in the relationship between interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits, and later CP through parental warmth. Current findings provide relevant implications for developmental models of psychopathic traits, as well as for predictive models and preventive strategies on early-onset conduct problems La relación entre rasgos psicopáticos y problemas de conducta ha sido extensamente analizada, constándose un efecto predictivo de los rasgos psicopáticos sobre los problemas de conducta a lo largo del desarrollo. Sin embargo, investigaciones recientes mostraron que los problemas de conducta de inicio temprano también pueden jugar un papel fundamental en el desarrollo de los rasgos de tipo psicopático. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo principal analizar los efectos longitudinales (i.e., autorregresivos, directos y recíprocos) entre las tres dimensiones de la personalidad psicopática (interpersonal, afectiva y conductual) y los problemas de conducta a largo de un 1 año de estudio (T1-T2), analizando el posible efecto mediador de las prácticas parentales inconsistentes y basadas en el afecto. Se emplearon datos de 1.833 niños/as (48.8% niñas; edad media = 4.24; DT = 0.92), proporcionados a través de informes de padres, participantes en el proyecto ELISA (Estudio Longitudinal para una Infancia Saludable). Se realizó un diseño longitudinal en panel con efectos de mediación en Mplus. Los resultados mostraron efectos autorregresivos, directos y recíprocos entre problemas de conducta y rasgos psicopáticos. Así, mientras los problemas de conducta en T1 permiten predecir cambios en las tres dimensiones de psicopatía en T2, únicamente los rasgos de dureza emocional e impulsividad/búsqueda de sensaciones en T1, predicen cambios en problemas de conducta en T2. Por último, se evidenció el posible papel mediador de las prácticas parentales, particularmente en la relación entre rasgos psicopáticos de tipo interpersonal y afectivo, y los problemas de conducta a través de las prácticas basadas en el afecto. Los resultados obtenidos permiten extraer importantes implicaciones sobre los modelos de desarrollo de la personalidad psicopática, así como para la predicción y prevención de los problemas de conducta de inicio temprano This study was funded by FEDER/Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades – Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Grant (PSI2015-65766-R); Axudas para a Consolidación e Estruturación de Unidades de Investigación Competitivas e outras Accións de Fomento nas Univeridades; GRC, 2018 (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia); and Programa de Axudas á Etapa Posdoutoral da Xunta de Galicia (2017)/Programa de Axudas para Completar a Etapa de Formación Posdoutoral (2021) (Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia) SI

Purpose: To extend current knowledge on the role of emotion regulation in psychopathy, the present study sought to examine relationships between maladaptive (Attack Self, Attack Others, Avoidance, Withdrawal) and adaptive shame coping styles and psychopathic traits (interpersonal, affective, lifestyle, antisocial) in incarcerated violent offenders. Methods: A sample of 266 men incarcerated for violent offenses in Italian prisons (Mage = 37.42, SD = 11.85) completed self-reported measures of shame coping styles, psychopathic traits, and emotion dysregulation. A path analysis was conducted to examine multivariate relationships between shame coping styles and psychopathic traits while controlling for levels of emotion dysregulation. Results: Externalizing shame coping styles (Avoidance, Attack Others) were positively related to psychopathic traits across domains. In addition, internalizing shame coping styles were negatively related to the interpersonal and affective traits (Attack Self) and the antisocial traits of psychopathy (Withdrawal). Finally, affective traits of psychopathy had a negative association with adaptive shame coping style. Conclusions: Findings highlight that, beyond general problems with regulating negative emotional states, psychopathic individuals may use maladaptive strategies to cope with shame-eliciting situations, which could at the same time protect the self from the painful experience of shame while contributing to externalizing behavior.

This study examines the moderating effect of six different parental behaviors on the level ofantisocial behavior in adolescents with psychopathic traits. Participants were 839 adolescents froma mid-sized town in Sweden between the ages of 13 - 15 years (M = 14.2, SD = .94). Parentalbehaviors and antisocial behavior were measured through adolescents' self-reports, psychopathictraits were measured using the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI). The result from themoderation analysis showed that the three negative parental behaviors (bad reactions to disclosure,angry outbursts and coldness-rejection) had a significant positive moderating effect on the level ofantisocial behavior that the adolescents engaged in. The three positive parental behaviors (warmth,attempted understanding and control) however, did not have a significant moderating effect on thelevel of antisocial behavior. In sum, the result from this study suggests that negative parentalbehavior acts as risk factors for adolescents with psychopathic traits to engage in higher levels ofantisocial behavior. Furthermore, positive parental behaviors do not have a buffering effect againstantisocial behavior among these youths, indicating that it may be beyond the parents’ control toprevent the negative development of antisocial behavior among these youths.

Psychopathy is a personality construct that encompasses a constellation of traits reflecting emotional dysfunction and antisocial behavior. Individuals with elevated levels of psychopathic traits have shown abnormal affective processing. Studies with psychopathic offenders suggested that this is a result of altered automatic social approach-avoidance tendencies. The goal of the current study was to increase the insight into the underlying mechanism of affective processes in community-dwelling individuals with a high level of psychopathic traits by studying approach and avoidance behavior in an experimental setting. Furthermore, given its link with aggression and threat approach, testosterone was measured to investigate a possible mediatory role. Eighty-seven healthy individuals performed a computerized affective approach-avoidance task in which they pushed or pulled emotional faces using a joystick. The results showed that high levels of psychopathic traits corresponded with diminished threat avoidance to angry faces, as was found previously in psychopathic offenders. Although endogenous testosterone was positively associated with the level of psychopathic traits, it did not mediate the effect of psychopathic traits on threat avoidance. We propose that an increased understanding of the interplay between different neuroendocrine mechanisms could lead to a better insight into the underlying mechanism of abnormal threat avoidance in individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

Introduction: Personality traits influence brain activity related to perception and social cognition while social cognition further influences the expression of such traits in social interactions. The voice is the most primal social signals involved in verbal and nonverbal communication that is encoded by a core network of specialized voice-sensitive brain regions in the “temporal voice areas” (TVAs) of the superior temporal cortex (STC) and then forwarded to the extended network for higher-order cognitive processes. The current study analyzes how subclinical primary psychopathic (F1), secondary psychopathic (F2) and autistic (AQ) traits influence voice processing and how such neural activity may relate to social interactions. Methods: A community sample of 113 participants (66 females) from ages 18 to 40 years (M = 25.59, SD = 4.797) completed several self-report trait assessments (Big Five Inventory [BFI], Levenson Self-Report Psychopathy Scale [LSRP], Autism-Spectrum Quotient [AQ]) and passively listened to auditory stimuli during an fMRI voice localizer scan. The functional brain images from the vocal and non-vocal sound trials were contrasted and analyzed with the LSRP and AQ assessment scores using multiple linear regression while including gender, age, and BFI scores as covariates. The study uses existing data that was collected as part of a larger project at the Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Lab at the University of Zürich. Results: The LSRP Total scores correlated with hypoactivity in right posterior STC, right ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC), left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), left inferior parietal lobule (IPL), left fusiform gyrus, bilateral precentral gyri, and bilateral planum temporale. The F1 scores correlated with widespread hypoactivity in areas including the left anterior STC, limbic, paralimbic, striatal and frontal regions. The F2 scores correlated with hyperactivity in the substantia nigra and calcarine sulcus, and with hypoactivity in the left middle temporal cortex (MTC). AQ scores correlated with hypoactivity in left IFG, left inferior temporal sulcus (ITS), areas of white matter in the cingulum bundle and near the right MTC. Conclusion: Those with overall psychopathic traits may not automatically perceive a voice sound as a salient or socially relevant signal, and therefore may not pay attention to it. They also seem to lack automatic imitation, making it difficult to bond with others. Those with primary psychopathic traits may not recognize voice stimuli as a relevant signal in pursuing their goals and they may not be motivated to listen to or engage with vocal stimuli, which may influence bottom-up sound perception. Those with secondary psychopathic traits may associate voices with the possibility of reward. They also seem to be sensitive to sound location and may be more inclined to direct their attention toward the speaker. Autistic traits were related to white matter hypoactivity that may reflect insufficient cortical connections leading to social impairment. Hypoactivity of the left IFG may reflect some dysfunction in the speech information pathway, neural mirroring, and empathic processes.

The aim of the present study is to examine the possible role of psychopathic traits as a moderator of the aggression-antisociality/delinquency link. Our sample was composed of 567 youth (M = 15.91 years, SD = 0.99 years, age range = 14-18 years) from Portugal. Results indicated that psychopathic features significantly moderate four different forms and functions of aggression - proactive overt, proactive relational, reactive overt, and reactive relational - when predicting delinquency. However, psychopathic traits only significantly moderate proactive relational aggression when predicting Conduct Disorder. Psychopathic traits and aggression constitute an antisocial alchemy for antisocial behavior but more research is needed about moderation effects therein particularly among clinical and justice system involved samples of youth to inform behavioral interventions. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Objective A limited prosocial emotions (LPE) subtype of conduct disorder (CD) has been added to the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Empirical studies on this categorically defined subtype are scarce, whereas existing work is predominantly cross-sectional. Hypotheses surrounding the LPE subtype that relate to comorbidity, prognosis, developmental antecedents, and overlap with psychopathic personality, received no or little scrutiny. Method These knowledge gaps were addressed in a community sample of 1,839 children 8 to 10 years of age who enrolled in the study in early childhood (age 3-5), and were followed up in early adolescence (age 11-13). Parents and teachers completed questionnaires that tap theoretically and clinically relevant features. Results Children with the LPE subtype exhibited more CD symptoms and comorbid problems, including fearlessness, and symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. These children were also at a higher risk for future CD symptoms at the 3-year follow-up. Additionally, fearlessness, callous-unemotional traits, interpersonal traits, and harsh parenting assessed in early childhood, were identified as developmental antecedents of the LPE subtype. Findings, finally, tentatively suggest that the LPE subtype is a heterogeneous group differentiated on other psychopathic personality traits. Conclusion The LPE subtype appears to identify a troubled, etiologically distinct group of children with conduct problems who are at a heightened risk for future maladjustment. Findings can inform the underlying mechanisms related to the LPE subtype, and can lead to the development and improvement of prevention and intervention programs for children with conduct problems.

Background Antisocial personality disorder (ASPD), although associated with very significant health and social burden, is an under-researched mental disorder for which clinically effective and cost-effective treatment methods are urgently needed. No intervention has been established for prevention or as the treatment of choice for this disorder. Mentalization-based treatment (MBT) is a psychotherapeutic treatment that has shown some promising preliminary results for reducing personality disorder symptomatology by specifically targeting the ability to recognize and understand the mental states of oneself and others, an ability that is compromised in people with ASPD. This paper describes the protocol of a multi-site RCT designed to test the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of MBT for reducing aggression and alleviating the wider symptoms of ASPD in male offenders subject to probation supervision who fulfil diagnostic criteria for ASPD. Methods Three hundred and two participants recruited from a pool of offenders subject to statutory supervision by the National Probation Service at 13 sites across the UK will be randomized on a 1:1 basis to 12 months of probation plus MBT or standard probation as usual, with follow-up to 24 months post-randomization. The primary outcome is frequency of aggressive antisocial behaviour as assessed by the Overt Aggression Scale – Modified. Secondary outcomes include violence, offending rates, alcohol use, drug use, mental health status, quality of life, and total service use costs. Data will be gathered from police and criminal justice databases, NHS record linkage, and interviews and self-report measures administered to participants. Primary analysis will be on an intent-to-treat basis; per-protocol analysis will be undertaken as secondary analysis. The primary outcome will be analysed using hierarchical mixed-effects linear regression. Secondary outcomes will be analysed using mixed-effects linear regression, mixed-effects logistic regression, and mixed-effects Poisson models for secondary outcomes depending on whether the outcome is continuous, binary, or count data. A cost-effectiveness and cost-utility analysis will be undertaken. Discussion This definitive, national, multi-site trial is of sufficient size to evaluate MBT to inform policymakers, service commissioners, clinicians, and service users about its potential to treat offenders with ASPD and the likely impact on the population at risk. Trial registration ISRCTN 32309003. Registered on 8 April 2016.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have been associated with atypical responses to reward and punishment cues, with evidence suggesting that such traits may shape caregiver use of reward and punishment practices over time. To date, research has predominantly focused on parental rewards and discipline, with far less attention paid to teacher behavior management strategies. The first aim of the current study was to investigate the potential moderating effect of CU traits on the relationship between teacher classroom management strategies (rewards and discipline) and two important school-related outcomes: student engagement and academic motivation. The second aim was to examine whether CU traits were related to teachers’ use of discipline and reward strategies over time. Children attending South Korean primary schools (N = 218; aged 10–12 years; 52% boys) reported on CU traits, antisocial behavior, teacher classroom management strategies, school engagement and academic motivation at two time points (the beginning and end of a single academic year). First, harsh teacher discipline predicted lower school engagement, but only for children low in CU traits. Second, cross-lagged longitudinal models showed that CU traits predicted decreased use of teacher rewards, over and above associations with antisocial behavior. CU traits were not related to harsh discipline cross-sectionally or longitudinally in models that accounted for antisocial behavior. Findings show that CU traits are related to reduced sensitivity to teacher discipline, suggesting that teachers may need additional support to implement both discipline and reward-based strategies with children high in these traits. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10802-020-00663-2) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Psychopathy is a personality configuration encompassing affective (e.g., callousness), interpersonal (e.g., egocentricity, manipulation), and behavioral (e.g., impulsivity, antisociality) characteristics. Negative outcomes associated to psychopathic personality traits have been frequently investigated. However, psychopathy has also been associated to positive outcomes and adaptive traits. This thesis aimed to better understand these manifestations.In a first part, we explored the place of positive adjustment within the psychopathy construct. The results of two studies suggest (1) the central contribution of emotional stability (i.e., unconcern, invulnerability, self-contentment) in the psychopathy network and (2) the heterogeneous distribution of adaptive traits (logical thinking, leadership, focus, extroversion) among primary and secondary variants of psychopathy.In a second part, we investigated the determinants of two atypical manifestations of psychopathy: the presence of heroic behaviors, and the low frequency of antisocial behaviors. The results of two studies showed that (1) heroic behaviors could be motivated by extrinsic social rewards or punishment, and that (2) high dispositional mindfulness was associated to decreased antisocial behaviors in individuals with high psychopathic traits.Theoretical implications of our results are discussed in a third part.; La psychopathie est une organisation de la personnalité caractérisée par des dispositions affectives (ex., dureté-insensibilité), interpersonnelles (ex., manipulation, égocentrisme), et comportementales (ex., impulsivité, antisocialité). Les conséquences délétères associées aux traits de personnalité psychopathique ont été largement documentées. Cependant, la psychopathie est également associée à des ajustements positifs et des comportements adaptatifs. Cette thèse visait à mieux comprendre la nature de ces manifestations.Dans une première partie, nous avons exploré la place des ajustements positifs en tant que caractéristique interne (trait constitutif) et externe (conséquence associée) à la psychopathie. Les résultats de deux études suggèrent que (1) la stabilité émotionnelle (i.e., impassibilité, résilience émotionnelle, invulnérabilité) serait un trait central de la psychopathie dans la population générale, et que (2) des caractéristiques adaptatives telles que le recours à la pensée logique, le leadership, la concentration et l’extraversion seraient réparties de manière hétérogène parmi les variantes primaires et secondaires de la psychopathie.Dans une seconde partie, nous avons testé des modèles visant à expliquer deux manifestations atypiques de la psychopathie : l’absence de comportements antisociaux et la présence de comportements héroïques. Les résultats de deux études ont montré que (1) les comportements héroïques pouvaient être expliqués par des facteurs motivationnels tels que les récompenses narcissiques ou l’évitement des menaces à l’identité, et que (2) de hautes dispositions à la pleine conscience pouvaient être associées à des comportements antisociaux moins fréquents chez des individus à hauts traits psychopathiques.Les implications théoriques de nos résultats sont discutées dans une troisième partie.

Sex-specific manifestations of psychopathy remain highly debated both at the dimensional and structural levels. The network theory provides a promising framework for investigating this question. Thus, our study aimed to explore the network structure of psychopathy across sex. Participants were 1,990 college students (male: 43%, female: 57%) who received the Elemental Psychopathy Assessment-Short Form. We first estimated a Gaussian Graphical Model including the 18 Elemental Psychopathy Assessment-Short Form facets, separately for men and women. We then computed centrality indices (i.e., strength and expected influence) and predictability and finally conducted a bootstrapping procedure to assess the accuracy of edge weights and the stability of the centrality indices. The results of the network comparison test provide support for the stability of the network structure of psychopathic traits across sex. Self-Centeredness was the most central trait in the two networks, followed by Unconcern, Rashness, and Anger for women and by Callousness, Unconcern, and Rashness for men. Minor sex differences and future directions are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

There is increasing evidence for altered brain resting state functional connectivity in adolescents with disruptive behavior. While a considerable body of behavioral research points to differences between reactive and proactive aggression, it remains unknown whether these two subtypes have dissociable effects on connectivity. Additionally, callous-unemotional traits are important specifiers in subtyping aggressive behavior along the affective dimension. Accordingly, we examined associations between two aggression subtypes along with callous-unemotional traits using a seed-to-voxel approach. Six functionally relevant seeds were selected to probe the salience and the default mode network, based on their presumed role in aggression. The resting state sequence was acquired from 207 children and adolescents of both sexes [mean age (standard deviation) = 13.30 (2.60); range = 8.02–18.35] as part of a Europe-based multi-center study. One hundred eighteen individuals exhibiting disruptive behavior (conduct disorder/oppositional defiant disorder) with varying comorbid attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms were studied, together with 89 healthy controls. Proactive aggression was associated with increased left amygdala–precuneus coupling, while reactive aggression related to hyper-connectivities of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) to the parahippocampus, the left amygdala to the precuneus and to hypo-connectivity between the right anterior insula and the nucleus caudate. Callous-unemotional traits were linked to distinct hyper-connectivities to frontal, parietal, and cingulate areas. Additionally, compared to controls, cases demonstrated reduced connectivity of the PCC and left anterior insula to left frontal areas, the latter only when controlling for ADHD scores. Taken together, this study revealed aggression-subtype-specific patterns involving areas associated with emotion, empathy, morality, and cognitive control. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00787-020-01601-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Highlights • There was significant heterogeneity in participants’ neural networks. • Psychopathy associated with default mode-central executive network connectivity. • Associations were specific to affective psychopathic traits., Background Psychopathic traits are hypothesized to be associated with dysfunction across three resting-state networks: the default mode (DMN), salience (SN), and central executive (CEN). Past work has not considered heterogeneity in the neural networks of individuals who display psychopathic traits, which is likely critical in understanding the etiology of psychopathy and could underlie different symptom presentations. Thus, this study maps person-specific resting state networks and links connectivity patterns to features of psychopathy. Methods We examined resting-state functional connectivity among eight regions of interest in the DMN, SN, and CEN using a person-specific, sparse network mapping approach (Group Iterative Multiple Model Estimation) in a community sample of 22-year-old men from low-income, urban families (N = 123). Associations were examined between a dimensional measure of psychopathic traits and network density (i.e., number of connections within and between networks). Results There was significant heterogeneity in neural networks of participants, which were characterized by person-specific connections and no common connections across the sample. Psychopathic traits, particularly affective traits, were associated with connection density between the DMN and CEN, such that greater density was associated with elevated psychopathic traits. Discussion Findings emphasize that neural networks underlying psychopathy are highly individualized. However, individuals with high levels of psychopathic traits had increased density in connections between the DMN and CEN, networks that have been linked with self-referential thinking and executive functioning. Taken together, the results highlight the utility of person-specific approaches in modeling neural networks underlying psychopathic traits, which could ultimately inform personalized prevention and intervention strategies.

Background. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are related to low achievement but not to deficits in verbal ability, commonly regarded as a major risk factor for poor academic outcomes in antisocial youth. This suggests that CU traits may have utility in explaining heterogeneous risk pathways for poor school performance in antisocial children. Reduced sensitivity to teacher discipline has been suggested as a potential explanation for the association between CU traits and low achievement, given its importance in facilitating engagement in learning. This study is the first to examine punishment insensitivity as a potential mechanism explaining the relationship between CU traits and poor achievement. Aim. The current study investigated the indirect pathway from CU traits via the predictor of punishment insensitivity to English, Maths and Science grades. Sample. A total of 437 English secondary school students aged 11 to 14 years (49% girls). Methods. We conducted mediation analysis within a structural equation modelling framework. CU traits and punishment insensitivity were assessed using child-report questionnaires and academic grades were obtained from school records. Results. CU traits were indirectly associated with low academic grades in Maths and Science, but not English, via punishment insensitivity, controlling for child age, gender, single parent household, free school meals eligibility, externalizing problems, and classroom effects. Conclusions. Findings indicated that reduced sensitivity to discipline forms a pathway linking CU traits to poor performance in Maths and Science. Teachers may therefore need additional support to implement discipline effectively with children high in CU traits in order to prevent poor academic outcomes.

Treball Final de Grau en Psicologia. Codi: PS1048. Curs: 2019/2020 Adverse experiences in childhood (ACEs) are associated with social, cognitive and emotional deficits in adults. A clear example is that such events lead to the development of psychopathic traits. Recently, physical abuse has been related to the behavioral dimension of psychopathy and emotional abuse to the affective dimension. Due to the limited previous research on abuse and psychopathy, this study is interested in analyzing whether abuse and neglect in childhood and adolescence influence the development of psychopathic traits in emerging adulthood. Las experiencias adversas en la infancia (ACEs) se asocian con déficits sociales, cognitivos y emocionales en adultos. Un claro ejemplo es que tales eventos potencian el desarrollo de los rasgos psicopáticos. Recientemente, se ha relacionado el abuso físico con la dimensión conductual de la psicopatía y el abuso emocional con la dimensión afectiva. Dada la escasa investigación previa sobre el maltrato y la psicopatía, este estudio está interesado en analizar si el abuso y la negligencia en la infancia y adolescencia influyen en el desarrollo de rasgos psicopáticos en la adultez emergente.

Psychopathy has been historically associated with a lack of emotion. However, some authors argue that psychopathy may represent a tendency to externalize the experience of unpleasant emotions, including shame, what could be seen as an adaptive strategy within an evolutionary framework. Nevertheless, empirical research investigating this hypothesis is scarce. Using community ( n = 295) and forensic ( n = 300) male youth samples and a set of self-report measures, this study tested an evolutionary model involving pathways linking the impact of harsh rearing experiences (traumatic shameful experiences and warmth and safeness experiences) to psychopathic traits, as well as the indirect effects of external shame and shame coping strategies in that association. In addition, this study tested the invariance of this model across samples. Results indicated that the impact of harsh rearing experiences was directly and indirectly (through external shame and shame coping strategies) linked with psychopathic traits. The model explained psychopathic traits in forensic and community samples, though differences in some of the pathways were found across groups. Findings offer support for conceptualizing psychopathic traits as an adaptive strategy to cope with the impact of harsh rearing experiences, opening new pathways to prevention and intervention efforts.

Contains fulltext : 220419.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Aggression and callous, uncaring, and unemotional (CU) traits are clinically related behavioral constructs caused by genetic and environmental factors. We performed polygenic risk score (PRS) analyses to investigate shared genetic etiology between aggression and these three CU-traits. Furthermore, we studied interactions of PRS with smoking during pregnancy and childhood life events in relation to CU-traits. Summary statistics for the base phenotype were derived from the EAGLE-consortium genome-wide association study of children's aggressive behavior and were used to calculate individual-level genome-wide and gene-set PRS in the NeuroIMAGE target-sample. Target phenotypes were 'callousness', 'uncaring', and 'unemotional' sumscores of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional traits. A total of 779 subjects and 1,192,414 single-nucleotide polymorphisms were available for PRS-analyses. Gene-sets comprised serotonergic, dopaminergic, glutamatergic, and neuroendocrine signaling pathways. Genome-wide PRS showed evidence of association with uncaring scores (explaining up to 1.59% of variance; self-contained Q = 0.0306, competitive-P = 0.0015). Dopaminergic, glutamatergic, and neuroendocrine PRS showed evidence of association with unemotional scores (explaining up to 1.33, 2.00, and 1.20% of variance respectively; self-contained Q-values 0.037, 0.0115, and 0.0473 respectively, competitive-P-values 0.0029, 0.0002, and 0.0045 respectively). Smoking during pregnancy related to callousness scores while childhood life events related to both callousness and unemotionality. Moreover, dopaminergic PRS appeared to interact with childhood life events in relation to unemotional scores. Our study provides evidence suggesting shared genetic etiology between aggressive behavior and uncaring, and unemotional CU-traits in children. Gene-set PRS confirmed involvement of shared glutamatergic, dopaminergic, and neuroendocrine genetic variation in aggression and CU-traits. Replication of current findings is needed.

Background The aim of the current study is to examine the psychometric properties of the German Version of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory-Short Version (YPI-S). Methods A sample of 856 adolescents (age: 15–19) from the German-speaking part of Switzerland was included. All participants completed the 50-item YPI, of which we derived the 18 items of the YPI-S. Furthermore, participants completed the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument-Version-2 (MAYSI-2), as well a self-report delinquency questionnaire. Results We were able to replicate a three-factor structure and found moderate to good internal consistency for the total score as well as for the three dimensions of the YPI-S. Measurement invariance across gender was established. Furthermore, we found positive small to medium correlations with both internalizing and externalizing mental health problems, substance abuse problems, and offending behavior. Conclusions Our results suggest that the German version of the YPI-S is a reliable and valid screening instrument for psychopathic traits in both boys and girls from the general population in the German-speaking part of Switzerland.