The influence of polygraphs on evaluators' decisions regarding sexually violent persons.

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the degree to which polygraph results affected evaluators' decisions regarding patients committed as sexually violent persons (SVPs) in Wisconsin. Specifically, we examined evaluators' opinions on patients' significant progress in treatment (SPT), suitability for supervised release, and suitability for discharge. HYPOTHESES: We hypothesized that having failed a polygraph during the prior year would predict evaluators' opinions that patients did not meet criteria for SPT, supervised release, and discharge from civil commitment even after analyses controlled for other factors related to evaluators' decision making. Similarly, we hypothesized that patients taking and passing polygraphs in the year before the evaluations would predict positive recommendations for the aforementioned outcomes. METHOD: All patients civilly committed under Wisconsin's SVP statute who had a Treatment Progress Report (TPR) and a Chapter 980.07 evaluation completed by a state-employed forensic evaluator in 2017 were eligible for this study; we selected a random sample of 158 participants. TPR and 980.07 evaluation reports were coded to reflect evaluators' opinions regarding SPT, supervised release, and/or discharge. All polygraph types and outcomes completed within the review period were coded. RESULTS: Results indicated that taking and passing polygraphs significantly predicted favorable evaluator opinions regarding SPT after analyses controlled for other potentially relevant factors. Polygraphs were not significantly predictive of discharge or supervised release recommendations after analyses controlled for other factors. CONCLUSIONS: Some polygraph outcomes may affect specific evaluator opinions regarding treatment progress. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

The Validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory-Adolescent in Assessing Callous-Unemotional Traits in At-Risk Adolescents.

This study examines the validity of the Personality Assessment Inventory-Adolescent (PAI-A; Morey) in assessing callous-unemotional (CU) traits within two independent samples of at-risk adolescents from a residential intervention program. The study tests the extent to which CU traits are represented within PAI-A scales with respect to empirically- or theoretically-related indicators, such as antisociality, aggression, low warmth, low social connectedness, and subdued internalizing psychopathology. The PAI-A substantive scales statistically accounted for an average of 55.0% of the variance in total scores on the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU; Frick) across samples. Broadly, PAI-A substantive scales evinced theoretically-consistent relations with CU traits. Consistent with expectations, CU traits were broadly related to PAI-A-assessed constructs of antisocial features, aggression, low warmth and social disconnection, but not to subdued internalizing symptoms. Moreover, some of the PAI-A clinical, treatment consideration, and interpersonal scales or subscales demonstrated differential relations across the traits. Implications for assessment of CU traits using the PAI framework are discussed. Overall, this research adds to the literature on CU traits in broadband personality assessment and provides a foundation for future research on CU traits using the PAI-A.

Adolescent psychopathy, heart rate, and skin conductance.

Researchers have advocated for a greater focus on measuring neurobiological underpinnings of serious psychological conditions such as psychopathy. This has become particularly important to investigate early in the life span, when intervention efforts for psychopathy-related behavior like conduct disorder (CD) are more successful. Given that psychopathy is a complex syndrome, it is also important to investigate physiological processes at a dimensional level. Using a sample of 56 adolescent male offenders (Mage = 15.92; SD = 1.31), this study explored the relationship between the Psychopathy Checklist-Youth Version (Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003), heart rate (HR), and skin conductance (SC). A white noise countdown task was used to measure autonomic activity across a baseline, anticipatory (prenoise), and reactivity (postnoise) period. Findings revealed no significant associations between psychopathy and HR activity across the time intervals. However, results revealed a positive association between grandiose-manipulative traits and SC activity and a negative association between callous-unemotional traits and SC activity. The results indicate that autonomic processes may contribute to distinct psychopathic traits in different ways, implicating slightly differential brain functioning. The findings suggest that, in order to better understand and treat youth with CD, future research should continue to examine the biological correlates of psychopathy at the broader construct level but perhaps especially at the component level.

Validity of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory-Short Version in Justice-Involved and At-Risk Adolescents.

The current study examined the reliability and validity of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory-Short Version (YPI-S) in two different samples of at-risk adolescents enrolled in a residential program ( n = 160) and at a detention facility ( n = 60) in the United States. YPI-S scores displayed adequate internal consistency and were moderately associated with concurrent scales on other self-report psychopathy measures and externalizing behaviors. YPI-S scores were moderately related to interviewer-ratings of the construct using the four-factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version. Findings suggest that the YPI-S may be a clinically useful and valid tool for the assessment of psychopathic traits in juvenile settings. This may be particularly true given the differential predictive utility of each of its dimensions.

How do different dimensions of adolescent narcissism impact the relation between callous-unemotional traits and self-reported aggression?

The current study examined the moderating influence that different aspects of narcissism have on the relation between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and aggression in a sample of 720 adolescents (500 males), ages 16-19 enrolled in a 22-week residential program. Findings from the two studies revealed that psychopathy-linked narcissism as assessed by the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001; Antisocial process screening device. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.) and vulnerable narcissism as assessed using the Pathological Narcissism Inventory (PNI; Pincus et al., 2009; Initial construction and validation of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory. Psychological Assessment, 21, 365-379) significantly moderated the relation between CU traits and aggression in adolescents. Conversely, non-pathological narcissism assessed by the Narcissistic Personality Inventory for Children (NPIC; Barry, Frick, & Killian, 2003; The relation of narcissism and self-esteem to conduct problems in children. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 32, 139-152) and PNI grandiose narcissism did not significantly impact this relation. These results suggest that forms of narcissism most closely connected to internalizing problems combined with CU traits are associated with relatively heightened aggression in youth. The implications of these findings are discussed. Aggr. Behav. 43:14-25, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Anxiety Symptoms and Coping Motives: Examining a Potential Path to Substance Use-Related Problems in Adolescents With Psychopathic Traits.

BACKGROUND: Although the relation between impulsive-irresponsible psychopathic traits and substance use is well-documented, the path to developing substance use problems is less understood in adolescents with these characteristics. OBJECTIVES: To examine the associations between psychopathy, anxiety, and substance use motives and a mechanism by which anxiety and alcohol and marijuana coping motives mediate the relation between psychopathic traits and substance use-related problems. METHODS: A sample of 185 at-risk adolescent males from a residential military-style program reporting past alcohol or marijuana use (M age = 16.74) participated in the study. RESULTS: Impulsive-Irresponsible psychopathic traits were uniquely and incrementally predictive of alcohol and marijuana use-related problems and anxiety. Anxiety and coping motives appeared to partially explain the association between impulsivity-irresponsibility and substance use-related problems. CONCLUSIONS/IMPORTANCE: Findings suggest that youth expressing impulsive-irresponsible psychopathic traits may engage in problematic substance use at least partly as a function of heightened anxiety and a subsequent desire to alleviate distress by using alcohol or marijuana to cope.