Title

Validity and structure of a self-report measure of youth psychopathy

UMMS Affiliation

Department of Psychiatry

Publication Date

2004-02-14

Document Type

Article

Subjects

Adolescent; Antisocial Personality Disorder; Child; Humans; Male; *Psychological Tests; *Self Assessment (Psychology); United States

Disciplines

Psychiatry

Abstract

An interest in early identification of youth who may be at risk of psychopathy has generated measures for age-appropriate screening and assessment. This study examines the structural, concurrent, and divergent validity of the Psychopathy Content Scale, a 20-item self-report instrument derived from the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI). Data for 481 youths who had taken the MACI, the Child Behavior Checklist Youth Self-Report (YSR), and the Massachusetts Youth Screening Instrument, Second Version (MAYSI-2), were analyzed. Results showed that the PCS is best described by a two-factor model and that analyses of the two factors offer limited support for convergent and divergent validity. High scores on both factors were associated with high YSR and MAYSI-2 scales, suggesting that the measure identified youth who were distressed on several measures of emotional, psychological, and behavioral disorder.

DOI of Published Version

10.1002/bsl.578

Source

Behav Sci Law. 2004;22(1):69-84. Link to article on publisher's site

Journal/Book/Conference Title

Behavioral sciences and the law

Related Resources

Link to Article in PubMed

PubMed ID

14963881

Link to Full Text

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