Citation

Pechorro P, Seto MC, Ray JV, Alberto I, Simões MR. Int. J. Offender Ther. Comp. Criminol. 2019; ePub(ePub): 306624X19849569.

Affiliation

University of Coimbra, Portugal.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/0306624X19849569

PMID

31130026

Abstract

The present study examines the utility of three self-report measures of psychopathic traits in predicting recidivism among a sample of incarcerated male juvenile offenders. Participants ( N = 214, M = 16.40 years, SD = 1.29 years) from seven Portuguese juvenile detention centers were followed and prospectively classified as recidivists versus non-recidivists. Area under the curve (AUC) analysis revealed that the Antisocial Process Screening Device-Self-Report (APSD-SR) presented the best performance in terms of predicting general recidivism, with the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and the Childhood and Adolescent Taxon Scale-Self-Report (CATS-SR) presenting much poorer results. However, logistic regression models controlling for past frequency of crimes and age of first incarceration found that none of these self-report measures significantly predicted 1- or 3-year recidivism, whether general or violent.

FINDINGS suggest there are limitations in terms of the incremental utility of self-report measures of psychopathic traits in predicting recidivism among juveniles.

Language: en

Keywords

crime; juvenile offenders; psychopathy; recidivism; self-report