Identifying the Contributions of Maternal Factors and Early Childhood Externalizing Behavior on Adolescent Delinquency.

We examined whether childhood externalizing group subtypes were uniquely related to maternal depression and victimization and whether these subtypes differentially predicted adolescent delinquency. Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) consortium (N = 1091; 51.3% female, 52.2% African American). Latent class analysis indicated three groups at age 4 (titled "well-adjusted," "hyperactive/oppositional," and "aggressive/rule-breaking"). Caregiver victimization and depression significantly predicted group membership such that aggressive/rule-breaking group had higher levels of maternal depression and victimization although the well-adjusted group had higher levels of maternal victimization relative to the hyperactive/oppositional group. Further, membership in higher externalizing groups at age four is associated with greater risk of adolescent delinquency at age 16. These findings underscore the need to address maternal risk factors in the treatment of childhood disruptive behavior and provide evidence of the continuity of disruptive behaviors from early childhood to adolescence.

The psychometric properties of the Personality Assessment Inventory-Adolescent's Borderline Features Scale across two high-risk samples.

The present study sought to assess the performance of the Borderline Features (BOR) Scale of the adolescent version of the Personality Assessment Inventory (Morey, 2007b) in 2 high-risk samples: inpatient and justice-involved adolescents. This study is the first to evaluate the BOR scale in high-risk adolescent samples, outside the initial standardization studies. Across both samples (NClinical = 327, NForensic = 151), results indicated good internal consistency. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated poor fit of the 4-factor structure proposed by the measure's authors. Convergent validity and receiver-operating characteristics analyses, conducted in the clinical sample, indicated that the adolescent version of the Personality Assessment Inventory BOR scale had good diagnostic accuracy for predicting a borderline personality disorder diagnosis (via structured interview). Findings suggest that the BOR scale has adequate internal consistency, convergent validity, and clinical utility, although areas for future measure evaluation (including factor structure) remain. Still, the BOR scale may partially address the current hesitation to assess borderline personality disorder features in high-risk youth because it is embedded within a broadband psychopathology measure. (PsycINFO Database Record

"A Psychopath by Any Other Name?": Juror Perceptions of the DSM-5 "Limited Prosocial Emotions" Specifier.

DSM-5 recently added the specifier "Limited Prosocial Emotions" (LPE) to the Conduct Disorder (CD) diagnosis, yet little is known about how these traits will affect attitudes toward CD youth. Laypersons attending jury duty (N = 326) were randomly assigned to one of four case vignette conditions in which a male juvenile offender was identified as having (a) CD symptoms only, (b) CD symptoms plus a diagnostic label, (c) CD symptoms plus a diagnostic label and description of LPE traits, or (d) CD symptoms plus a description of LPE traits and a "psychopath" label. LPE traits led to more negative perceptions of the youth (e.g., more dangerous, evil, and psychopathic) and adding the psychopath label to the LPE specifier resulted in somewhat stronger support for punishment and mandated treatment. The LPE specifier may provide useful diagnostic information, but these findings raise serious concerns that it will stigmatize youth in the legal system.

Predictive validity of the personality assessment inventory (PAI) for identifying criminal reoffending following completion of an in-jail addiction treatment program.

We examined the predictive validity of the personality assessment inventory (PAI; Morey, 2007) for criminal reoffending over a 44-60 month follow-up period among incarcerated offenders (N = 124) who completed an addiction treatment program. With this study, we sought to test whether PAI scores conceptually relevant to Andrews and Bonta's (2010) central eight and responsiveness factors were predictive of general and specific reoffending in a sample with criminal involvement and substance-related impairment. PAI scores tapping antisocial personality style and the anger/hostile component of antisocial cognitions had the most robust relationships with the timing and occurrence of reoffending. Hostile dominance and discrepancy scores of observed versus predicted drug and alcohol problems were also predictive of reoffending. None of the other variables examined were consistently associated with reoffending. We discuss these results in relation to the use of the PAI to inform clinical decision making for individuals involved in the criminal justice system.

Jury panel member perceptions of interpersonal-affective traits of psychopathy predict support for execution in a capital murder trial simulation.

Recent research with college undergraduate mock jurors suggests that how psychopathic they perceive a criminal defendant to be is a powerful predictor of whether they will support a death verdict in simulated capital murder trials. Perceived affective and interpersonal traits of psychopathy are especially predictive of support for capital punishment, with perceived remorselessness explaining a disproportionate amount of variance in these attitudes. The present study attempted to extend these findings with a more representative sample of community members called for jury duty (N = 304). Jurors reviewed a case vignette based on an actual capital murder trial, provided sentencing verdicts, and rated the defendant on several characteristics historically associated with the construct of psychopathy. Consistent with prior findings, remorselessness predicted death verdicts, as did the affective and interpersonal features of psychopathy - though the latter effect was more pronounced among jurors who were Caucasian and/or who described their political beliefs as moderate rather than conservative or liberal. Results are discussed in terms of the potentially stigmatizing effects of psychopathy evidence in capital cases.

"Hired guns," "charlatans," and their "voodoo psychobabble": case law references to various forms of perceived bias among mental health expert witnesses.

Although in principle the legal system expects and professional ethics demand that expert witnesses be unbiased and objective in their forensic evaluations, anecdotal evidence suggests that accusations of financial bias, partisanship, and other forms of nonobjectivity are common. This descriptive survey of published legal cases expands on an earlier case law review (Mossman, 1999) attempting to encapsulate and summarize key issues concerning perceptions or allegations of bias in mental health expert witness testimony. Using a series of search terms reflecting various potential forms of accusatory bias, a total of 160 published civil and criminal court cases were identified in which 185 individuals (e.g., attorneys, trial and appellate judges, other witnesses) made one or more references to clinicians' alleged lack of neutrality. Allegations most typically involved describing the expert as having an opinion that was "for sale," or as a partisan or advocate for one side, although aspersions also were made concerning "junk science" testimony and comparing mental health experts to mystics and sorcerers. Our results indicate that diverse forms of bias that go beyond financial motives are alleged against mental health experts by various players in the legal system. Means are discussed by which experts can attempt to reduce the impact of such allegations.

Examining attitudes about and influences on research participation among forensic psychiatric inpatients.

Although a growing body of research has examined various types of coercive practices that may occur among psychiatric patients over the years, almost no attention has been given to coercive influences that may occur specifically in the context of recruitment into research projects. Particularly for those who are institutionalized (e.g., in-patient insanity acquittees), there are significant concerns that their autonomous decision-making to consent or not may be significantly impaired due to the highly restrictive and controlled environment in which they live. This exploratory study sought to examine patients' perceptions of coercive influences by presenting them with hypothetical research vignettes regarding possible recruitment into either a biomedical or social-behavioral research project. Among 148 multi-ethnic male and female participants across two facilities, participants reported relatively minimal perceptions that their autonomous decision-making would be impacted or that various potentially coercive factors (e.g., pressures from staff) would impair their free choice to participate (or not) in such research. To the extent that such perceptions of coercion did occur, they were moderately associated with patients' more general personality traits and attitudinal variables, such as alienation and external locus of control. Limitations of this study and their implications for future research are discussed.

Using the Personality Assessment Inventory to predict male offenders' conduct during and progression through substance abuse treatment.

Prior research has supported the utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991, 2007) to predict various negative outcomes among offender samples, yet few studies have specifically examined its association with behavior in treatment. In this study, the PAI was administered to 331 male offenders court ordered into substance abuse treatment. Several theoretically relevant PAI scales (e.g., Antisocial Features, Borderline Features) predicted various forms of problematic conduct (e.g., disruptive behavior, aggression) and subjective and objective ratings of treatment progress. Although there was relatively limited evidence for the superiority of any one predictor over the others, the Aggression (AGG) scale demonstrated incremental validity above and beyond other indicators for general noncompliance and aggressive behavior. Interpersonal scales also predicted select treatment behavior while sharing relatively little common variance with AGG. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing lower order and higher order dimensions on the PAI and other measures.

From incarceration to community care: structured assessment of correctional adaptation.

In this study, the authors extend their evaluation of a structured instrument for assessing the persistence of attitudes and behaviors developed by mentally ill offenders during periods of incarceration (Structured Assessment of Correctional Adaptation; SACA) and seek to demonstrate further the clinical significance of the construct of correctional adaptation. The subjects, patients at a state psychiatric center, were administered the SACA, along with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version and Working Alliance Inventory. Chart review captured relevant demographic, diagnostic, and correctional history variables. Results were analyzed comparing patients with and without incarceration histories. The SACA total score demonstrated strong interrater reliability and association with criminal history indices of validity. Patients with histories of incarceration were significantly more likely to score higher on the Correctional Adaptation measure and lower on the Bond subscale of working alliance. Controlling for symptom severity and psychopathy did not alter the negative relationship between correctional adaptation score and the Working Alliance Inventory.

An exploration of the relationship between criminal cognitions and psychopathy in a civil psychiatric sample.

The relationship between psychopathy and thinking styles that support and maintain a criminal lifestyle is examined using the Psychopathy Checklist: Screening Version (PCL:SV; Hart, Cox, & Hare, 1995) and the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS; Walters, 1995). These measures are administered to a sample of 75 patients recruited from a state psychiatric hospital in the northeastern United States. Correlational analyses indicate that the PICTS General Criminal Thinking, Self-Assertion/Deception factor scale, and several criminal thinking style scales are significantly related to psychopathy. The significantly associated criminal thinking scales include Entitlement (r = .44) and Superoptimism (r = .43) with Factors 1 and 2 of the PCL:SV, respectively. Multiple regression analyses reveal that these two criminal thinking scales are the strongest predictors of Factors 1 and 2 of the PCL:SV, respectively. Implications for the cognitive basis of the construct of psychopathy, as well as potential treatment interventions, are discussed.

An exploration of criminal thinking styles among civil psychiatric patients.

BACKGROUND: Several studies have found a relationship between psychiatric illness and criminal behaviour. Despite this, few studies have examined the presence of criminal thinking among civil psychiatric patients. AIMS: The aim of this study is to explore the patterns and correlates of criminal thinking, using the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS), in a sample of civil psychiatric patients. METHOD: The PICTS (Layperson Edition) and the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (Anchored Version; BPRS) were administered to 76 civil psychiatric patients. PICTS scores were compared with those of offenders from a previously published study. Bivariate tests were conducted between selected PICTS scales, BPRS factors, demographic and criminal history variables. Stepwise multiple regressions were performed to assess those variables that predicted the general criminal thinking, proactive and reactive composite scales of the PICTS. RESULTS: Independent samples t-tests revealed that five PICTS thinking styles were significantly higher in the psychiatric sample compared with the comparison sample of criminal offenders. Bivariate correlations revealed that the PICTS proactive composite scale was significantly related to and predicted by substance abuse and arrest history. CONCLUSIONS/CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Thinking styles which are typically associated with criminality were found in this sample of civil psychiatric patients. Cognitive remediation strategies targeting these may help to prevent criminal activity in psychiatric patients.