The relationship between the youth psychopathic traits inventory and psychopathology in a U.S. community sample of male youth.

The Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) is a self-report measure of juvenile psychopathic traits. Validity data for this measure are limited, especially for nonreferred samples. This report investigated the concurrent validity of the YPI by assessing 171 nonreferred male youth (M age = 12.96 years) with a battery of self-, parent-, and peer-report measures including the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ), the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD), and a peer-sociometric measure of aggression. Results confirmed the expected correlations between the YPI and measures of proactive aggression, other externalizing and internalizing behavior, and parent-report psychopathic-like traits. In addition, cluster analyses of YPI scores revealed 2 groups of youth (low vs. high) who scored differently on measures of externalizing behavior. This study supports the utility of the YPI as a research tool for assessing juvenile psychopathic traits.

Symptom burden in cancer survivors 1 year after diagnosis: a report from the American Cancer Society's Studies of Cancer Survivors.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have examined risk for severe symptoms during early cancer survivorship. By using baseline data from the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors-I, the authors examined cancer survivors with high symptom burden, identified risk factors associated with high symptom burden, and evaluated the impact of high symptom burden on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) 1 year postdiagnosis. METHODS: Participants were enrolled from 11 state cancer registries approximately 1 year after diagnosis and were surveyed by telephone or mail. The outcomes measures used were the Modified Rotterdam Symptom Checklist and the Profile of Mood States-37 (to assess symptom burden) and the Satisfaction with Life Domains Scale-Cancer (to assess HRQoL). RESULTS: Of 4903 survivors, 4512 (92%) reported symptoms related to their cancer and/or its treatment. Two-step clustering yielded 2 subgroups, 1 with low symptom burden (n = 3113) and 1 with high symptom burden (n = 1399). Variables that were associated with high symptom burden included lung cancer (odds ratio [OR], 2.27), metastatic cancer (OR, 2.05), the number of comorbid conditions (OR, 1.76), remaining on active chemotherapy (OR, 1.93), younger age (OR, 2.31), lacking insurance/being underinsured (OR, 1.57), having lower income (OR, 1.61), being unemployed (OR, 1.27), and being less educated (OR, 1.29). Depression, fatigue, and pain had the greatest impact on HRQoL in survivors with high symptom burden, who also had lower HRQoL (P < .0001). CONCLUSIONS: More than 1 in 4 cancer survivors had high symptom burden 1 year postdiagnosis, even after treatment termination. These results indicate a need for continued symptom monitoring and management in early post-treatment survivorship, especially for the underserved.

An item response theory analysis of the DSM-IV borderline personality disorder criteria in a population-based sample of 11- to 12-year-old children.

Although a growing body of empirical literature provides some support for the diagnosis of borderline personality disorder (BPD) in youth, little is known about the internal structure of BPD and the performance of the individual diagnostic criteria, especially in younger samples. We used item response theory (IRT) methods to investigate the psychometric properties of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (DSM-IV) BPD criteria in a large, population-based sample (n = 6,339) of young adolescents from the United Kingdom (ages 11 to 12). BPD was assessed using the Childhood Interview for DSM-IV Borderline Personality Disorder (CI-BPD; Zanarini, Horwood, Waylen, & Wolke, 2004). A single underlying dimension adequately accounted for covariation among the BPD criteria. Each criterion was found to be discriminating to a degree comparable to what has been reported in adult studies. BPD criteria were most informative within a range of severity of BPD pathology between +1 and +3 standard units. Five criteria were found to exhibit differential item functioning (DIF) between boys and girls. However, DIF balanced out for the total interview score. Despite the controversy associated with applying the borderline construct to youth, the current findings provide psychometric evidence in favor of doing so.

Revisiting Lynam's notion of the "fledgling psychopath": are HIA-CP children truly psychopathic-like?

BACKGROUND: In his developmental model of emerging psychopathy, Lynam proposed that the "fledgling psychopath" is most likely to be located within a subgroup of children elevated in both hyperactivity/inattention/impulsivity (HIA) and conduct problems (CP). This approach has garnered some empirical support. However, the extent to which Lynam's model captures children who resemble psychopathy with regard to the core affective and interpersonal features remains unclear. METHODS: In the present study, we investigated this issue within a large community sample of youth (N = 617). Four groups (non-HIA-CP, HIA-only, CP-only, and HIA-CP), defined on the basis of teacher reports of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), were compared with respect to parent-reported psychopathic-like traits and subjective emotional reactivity in response to unpleasant, emotionally-laden pictures from the International Affective Pictures System (IAPS). RESULTS: Results did not support Lynam's model. HIA-CP children did not appear most psychopathic-like on dimensions of callous-unemotional and narcissistic personality, nor did they report reduced emotional reactivity to the IAPS relative to the other children. Post-hoc regression analyses revealed a significant moderation such that elevated HIA weakened the association between CP and emotional underarousal. CONCLUSIONS: Implications of these findings with regard to the development of psychopathy are discussed.

A multitrait--multimethod examination of the reynolds intellectual assessment scales in a college sample.

This study assessed trait validity of the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales' (RIAS) Verbal Index (VIX) and Nonverbal Index (NIX) scores in a group of college students. Using both observation of patterns and latent variable modeling of a multitrait-multimethod correlation/covariance matrix, the results indicate that the RIAS VIX scores behaved in a manner predicted from the theory behind their construction; namely, they related strongly to other measures of crystallized intelligence (Gc) and, together, they formed a salient Gc factor. The NIX scores, however, did not behave as predicted-showing as strong, or stronger, associations with measures of Gc than measures of fluid intelligence. Although more studies of this type are needed across different samples before making broad generalizations, the results from the present study support the use and interpretation of the RIAS VIX score, but not the NIX score.