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The Use of a Screening Device to Assess Psychopathy in Young Offenders

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 January 2013

Teresa Silva ,
Vicente Garrido Genovés  and
M. José López Latorre
Teresa Silva
Affiliation:
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain)
Vicente Garrido Genovés*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Valencia (Spain)
M. José López Latorre
Affiliation:
Universidad de Valencia (Spain)
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Vicente Garrido Genovés. Facultad de Filosofía y Educación, Avda. Blasco Ibañez, 30, 4° piso. 46010 Valencia (Spain). Phone: +34-963864794. Fax: +34-963864035. E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

The aim of this research was to determine to what extent a psychopath screening device (the APSD) is useful in forensic assessments to predict general and violent offending. For this purpose, a cross-sectional study was done and 238 young people serving a sentence were assessed. The gold standard instrument used to measure psychopathy was the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth, Kosson & Hare, 2003). The results indicate that the association found between the screening device scores and several indicators of risk is low if compared with those obtained with the PCL:YV, suggesting that it is less useful as a tool in order to predict offending or violent offences. However, an Area Under the Curve of .784 and a validity index of 62.5 support its use as a screening device or as a preliminary approach to assess psychopathy in this population. The usefulness of this instrument to make assessments with young people in the forensic setting is discussed.

Este trabajo tiene como finalidad determinar la medida en que un instrumento para el cribado de la psicopatía (el APSD) es útil en la predicción de la conducta delictiva y violenta de los delincuentes juveniles. Se realizó un estudio transversal con una muestra de 238 delincuentes juveniles que estaban cumpliendo una medida impuesta por el Juzgado de Menores. El instrumento que se empleó como criterio para determinar la capacidad predictiva fue la Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth, Kosson & Hare, 2003). Los resultados indican que existe una asociación baja entre las puntuaciones del instrumento de cribado APSD y diversos indicadores de riesgo de delincuencia, si la comparamos con la que muestra la PCL:YV con esos mismos factores de riesgo, lo que sugiere que la APSD es menos útil que la PCL:YV en la predicción de la delincuencia y la violencia en los jóvenes. No obstante, se observó que la APSD alcanzaba un Área Bajo la Curva de .784 y un índice de validez de 62.5, lo que avala su utilización como un instrumento de cribado o como un método preliminar para evaluar la psicopatía entre los delincuentes juveniles. Finalmente se discute el uso del instrumento de cribado en el contexto forense juvenil.

Keywords

psychopathyyouth offendersscreening toolsROC analysesAPSDpsicopatíadelincuencia juvenilinstrumentos de cribadoanálisis RocAPSD
Type
Research Article
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , July 2012 , pp. 724 - 735
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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