Predicting the Risk of Re-Offending in Child-to-Parent Violence Using the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth.

Child-to-parent violence occurs when children engage in violent behaviour towards family members; the principal victim is often the mother. The risk assessment instruments used to identify the risk and protective factors in youth offenders who perpetrate child-to-parent violence are not specific to this type of offense. This study aims to describe the child-to-parent violence group in relation to the risk and protective factors they present in comparison with the group of young people who committed an assault offence. The sample for this study consists of two groups of youth offenders. The first group committed child-to-parent violence, and the second group has committed a violent crime against individuals to whom they are not related. Young people who commit child-to-parent violence have higher scores on the SAVRY risk factors and lower scores on the SAVRY protective factor than young people who have committed an assault offence. The results reveal the importance of identifying the risk and protective factors presented by youth offenders who commit child-to-parent violence in order to create specific intervention programs for the needs and strengths presented by this group of young people.

Efecto de un tratamiento contextual para la regulación de la ira y la inflexibilidad psicológica en adultos jóvenes colombianos

Antecedentes: en la actualidad, son escasas las intervenciones para el manejo de la regulación problemática de la ira y la inflexibilidad psicológica en adultos jóvenes afectados. Objetivo: evaluar la eficacia de una intervención breve, en formato grupal y virtual para la regulación problemática de la ira y la reducción de la inflexibilidad psicológica. Método: un grupo de 40 adultos jóvenes colombianos (40% hombres; 60%mujeres; M = 25.3 años; DE = 3.35) fueron asignados aleatoriamente a una de dos condiciones: intervención basada en la terapia de aceptación y compromiso (ACT) para regulación de la ira y la reducción de la inflexibilidad psicológica y lista de espera. Se evaluaron la evitación experiencial, la fusión cognitiva, la conexión con el momento presente, los valores y la percepción de efectos de la expresión problemática de la ira. Resultados: se encontraron diferencias significativas contamaños de efecto grandes en las variables de evitación experiencial, defusión cognitiva, contacto con el momento presente y obstrucción en valores. Las variables de progreso en valores y percepción de efectos de la ira presentaron cambios en el grupo experimental, pero no en su comparación con el grupo control. Conclusión: los resultados aportaron evidencia sobre la eficacia de esta intervención, aunque se requieren más estudios que así lo confirmen. Palabras clave: terapia de aceptación y compromiso;regulación de la ira; inflexibilidad psicológica; adultos jóvenes;intervención virtual.

Background: At present, interventions for the management of problematic anger regulation and psychological inflexibility inaffected young adults are scarce. Objetive: to evaluate the efficacy of a brief intervention, in a group and virtual format, for anger regulation and psychological inflexibility reduction. Method: A group of 40 Colombian young adults (40% male; 60% female; M = 25.3 years; SD = 3.35) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based intervention for anger regulation andpsychological inflexibility reduction and waiting list. Experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, connection to thepresent moment, values, and perception of negative effects of problematic anger expression were assessed. Results: Significant differences with large effect sizes were found in the experiential avoidance, cognitive defusion, contact with the present moment, and obstruction in values variables. The variables of progressin values and perception of the effects of anger presented changes in the experimental group, but not in their comparison with the control group. Conclusions: the results provide devidence on the efficacy of this intervention, although more studies are required to confirm this. Keywords: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; Angerregulation; Psychological inflexibility; Young adults; Virtualintervention.

Emotional Assessment in Spanish Youths With Antisocial Behavior.

Impaired emotional capacity in antisocial populations is a well-known reality. Taking the dimensional approach to the study of emotion, emotions are perceived as a disposition to action; they emerge from arousal of the appetitive or aversive system, and result in subjective, behavioral, and physiological responses that are modulated by the dimensions of valence, arousal, and dominance. This study uses the International Affective Picture System (IAPS) to study the interaction between the type of picture presented (pleasant, neutral, or unpleasant) and group (adolescents under custody in juvenile justice centers, adolescents under non-custodial measures, and secondary school students) in the emotional assessment of these dimensions. The interaction between the study variables was statistically significant. Statistically significant differences were found between the three types of pictures presented, in the ratings of unpleasant pictures between the custody group and the group of secondary students in regular schooling in valence, and in the ratings of unpleasant, neutral, and pleasant pictures in arousal, between the custody group and all groups. Discriminant analyses of each affective dimension indicate that the unpleasant pictures with violent and/or aggressive content tend to be in the functions that most differentiate the antisocial groups.

Factorial Analysis and Invariance Testing for Age and Gender of the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire (RPQ).

Reactive aggression is characterized by high emotional activation, impulsivity, and hostility, while proactive aggression presents a cold, instrumental, and planned strategy. The aim was to perform a psychometric analysis of the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire [RPQ]. A non-probability sample of 502 people between 18 and 40 years old was formed, grouped by sex (n=297, 59.2% women and n=205, 40.8% men) and age (n = 224, 44.62% under 25 years old and n=278, 55.38% over 25 years old). The instruments were the RPQ, the Anger Rumination Scale (ARS), and an affective scale (PANAS) in printed format. In this instrumental psychometric study, we found that the RPQ fits better in a model of two factors interrelated with residual covariances (CFI = .928, RMSEA = .044), presenting significant correlations with negative affect and anger rumination, as evidence of validity of concurrent criterion, especially with reactive aggression (anger rumination r = .542, and negative affect r = .359). Also, the test was not invariant between sexes and ages, given that the best fit was in the male sex and those under 25 years of age (∆CFI < 0.01, ∆RMSEA < 0.015). We concluded that women and adults over the age of 25 have a different aggressive response profile. These findings represent new directions of research around the measurement of aggressive behavior and the development of gender differentiated interventions for adolescents and young adults.

La agresión reactiva se caracteriza por una elevada activación emocional, impulsividad y hostilidad, mientras que la agresión proactiva presenta una estrategia fría, instrumental y planificada. El objetivo fue realizar un análisis psicométrico del Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire [RPQ]. Se conformó una muestra no probabilística de 502 personas entre 18 y 40 años, agrupadas por sexos (n=297, 59.2% mujeres y n=205, 40.8% hombres) y edades (n= 224, 44.62% menores de 25 años y n=278, 55.38% mayores de 25 años). Los instrumentos fueron el RPQ, una escala de rumiación-ira (ARS) y una de afecto (PANAS) en formato impreso. En este estudio instrumental psicométrico se encontró que el RPQ se ajusta mejor en un modelo de dos factores interrelacionados con covarianzas residuales (CFI = .928, RMSEA = .044), presenta correlaciones significativas con el afecto negativo y la rumiación-ira, como evidencias de validez de criterio concurrente, en especial con la agresión reactiva (rumiación-ira r=.542, y afecto negativo r=.359). Además, el test no fue invariante entre sexos y edades, dado que el mejor ajuste estuvo en el sexo masculino y menores de 25 años (∆CFI < 0.01, ∆RMSEA < 0.015). Se concluyó que las mujeres y los adultos mayores de 25 años presentan un perfil de respuesta agresiva diferente. Estos hallazgos representan nuevas direcciones de investigación en torno a la medición de la conducta agresiva y el desarrollo de intervenciones diferenciales por sexos para los adolescentes y adultos jóvenes.

Antisocial Disorders in Adolescence and Youth, According to Structural, Emotional, and Cognitive Transdiagnostic Variables: A Systematic Review.

Transdiagnostic causal variables have been identified that have allowed understanding the origin and maintenance of psychopathologies in parsimonious explanatory models of antisocial disorders. However, it is necessary to systematize the information published in the last decade. The aim of the study was to identify through a systematic review, the structural, emotional and cognitive transdiagnostic variables in antisocial disorders of adolescence and youth. Recommendations for systematic reviews and meta-extraction and analysis of information according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA), the Cochrane Collaboration and Campbell were followed. We found 19 articles from 110 reviewed documents. The results indicated that at a structural level there is a general psychopathological factor (psychopathy or externalizing), non-emotional callousness and impulsivity from behavioral inhibition and activation systems, and negative affect traits as base structures. In the emotional level, the study found a risk component from emotional dysregulation and experiential avoidance. In the cognitive level, a key role of anger-rumination and violent ideation as explanatory variables of antisocial disorders. We concluded that the interaction of these identified variables makes it possible to generate an evidence-based transdiagnostic model.

Predicting risk of recidivism in Spanish young offenders: Comparative analysis of the SAVRY and YLS/CMI.

BACKGROUND: This study offers a comparative analysis of evidence for the predictive validity of SAVRY and YLS/CMI scores in predicting risk of recidivism in a group of young people who received a Juvenile Justice order. METHODS: The sample was made up of 594 youths aged between 14 and 18 (M=15.63, SD=1.08) at the time they committed an offense. RESULTS: Both instruments showed high accuracy in predicting recidivism, with the greatest accuracy observed in the SAVRY and YLS/CMI total scores, as well as in the Individual domain of the SAVRY. Comparative analysis of the AUCs of both instruments indicated no statistically significant differences between total scores from the two instruments. Results showed statistically significant differences in comparisons of means and AUCs between the groups of young reoffenders and non-reoffenders in all cases. Our results did not support the hypothesis that dynamic risk factors are a better predictors of recidivism in young offenders. CONCLUSIONS: This study offers empirical evidence of the predictive capacity and differential functioning of the SAVRY and YLS/CMI instruments in the Spanish context.

Assessing the Interactions between Strengths and Risk Factors of Recidivism through the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY).

Instruments that assess recidivism risk in young people are used widely in the sphere of juvenile justice worldwide. Traditionally, research has focused on the study of risk factors presented by young offenders, and how these relate to criminal recidivism. In present-day research, protective factors have also come into their own, having proven to encourage non-recidivism in young offenders. This paper presents a study carried out with 594 young offenders. The instrument used for assessing risk of recidivism in young offenders was the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY). In the results found here, one can observe how the young offenders who did not reoffend presented a greater level of protective factors than the repeating offenders. The youths with a prior arrest record scored higher in the risk domains than the reoffenders without a prior arrest record. The case of young repeat offenders who already had an arrest record represents a high-risk profile, or a profile of a criminal career. Crimes committed by young people can be isolated incidents in their life. In most youths, criminal behavior does not persist beyond legal age. Protective factors prove to be important in juvenile justice when planning an individualized intervention for the young offender.

The Predictive Validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth for Young Spanish Offenders.

The present study examined the predictive validity of the Structured Assessment of Violence Risk in Youth (SAVRY) in a group of young Spanish offenders. The sample is made up of 594 minors from the Juvenile Court, between the ages of 14 and 18 at the time they committed the delinquent act. The SAVRY was able to differentiate between low and high-risk younger offenders. Mean scores on risk factor are greater in the group of recidivist offenders, the group of non-recidivist shows higher mean scores in Protective domain. The accuracy of the instrument is high (AUCRiskTotalScore = 0.737 and AUCSummaryRiskRating = 0.748). An approximation of the predictive validity study of the SAVRY in Spanish younger offenders is presented. The results obtained support the SAVRY good functioning with not English samples.

Identifying Risk and Protective Factors in Recidivist Juvenile Offenders: A Decision Tree Approach.

Research on juvenile justice aims to identify profiles of risk and protective factors in juvenile offenders. This paper presents a study of profiles of risk factors that influence young offenders toward committing sanctionable antisocial behavior (S-ASB). Decision tree analysis is used as a multivariate approach to the phenomenon of repeated sanctionable antisocial behavior in juvenile offenders in Spain. The study sample was made up of the set of juveniles who were charged in a court case in the Juvenile Court of Almeria (Spain). The period of study of recidivism was two years from the baseline. The object of study is presented, through the implementation of a decision tree. Two profiles of risk and protective factors are found. Risk factors associated with higher rates of recidivism are antisocial peers, age at baseline S-ASB, problems in school and criminality in family members.

Relationship between drug use and psychopathological variables of risk in university students.

BACKGROUND: Research has been studying the relationships between drug use and the risk of suffering psychopathological disorders. This study analyzed the relationships existing between this use and certain psychotic disorder risk variables: hallucination, schizotypy and cognitive fusion. METHOD: Several screening questionnaires on drug use (CAGE), a questionnaire on "cognitive fusion" (TAFS), another on hallucination proneness (LSHS-R) and another on schizotypy (O-LIFE-R) were given to a sample of 308 students at the University of Almeria with a mean age of 19.51 years (SD= 2.11). RESULTS: The results found show how cognitive fusion is positively related to use of cannabis and cocaine, the scores on the schizotypy scale correlated positively with use of alcohol and cannabis, and the scores on a hallucination proneness correlated positively to use of cannabis. Regression equations were found that predicted the use of these substances from the variables of vulnerability to suffering from schizophrenia spectrum disorders. CONCLUSIONS: The results show an association between drug use and the risk variables studied.

Validity of the self-report on drug use by university students: correspondence between self-reported use and use detected in urine.

The purpose of this work was to determine the validity of a self-report on recent drug use (cocaine and cannabis) in a sample of university students of both sexes and to explore the role of attitudes toward substance use as related to this report. The subjects (506) were volunteers aged 17-35 years (who received an economic incentive) recruited at the University of Almería (Spain). The results were analyzed on the basis of correspondence between the self-report of recent use and a urine test. Three logistic regression analyses between self-reported use and attitudes toward drugs were also performed. The results show that the convergent validity of the self-report of drug use and the urine test is quite satisfactory, with percentages of agreement varying from .89 to .98 and Kappa of .66 and .56 for cannabis and cocaine, respectively. Sensitivity of the self-report is 57.1% (cocaine) and 91.8% (cannabis), and specificity is 99.4% (cocaine) and 89.6% (cannabis). The differences found in correspondence between the two substances are discussed with regard to self-reported attitudes on drug use.