The use of a screening device to assess psychopathy in young offenders

  1. Silva, Teresa 1
  2. Garrido Genovés, Vicente Javier 2
  3. López Latorre, M. José 2
  1. 1 Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
    info
    Universidad Rey Juan Carlos

    Madrid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01v5cv687

    Geographic location of the organization Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
  2. 2 Universitat de València
    info
    Universitat de València

    Valencia, España

    ROR https://ror.org/043nxc105

    Geographic location of the organization Universitat de València
Journal:
The Spanish Journal of Psychology

ISSN: 1138-7416

Year of publication: 2012

Volume: 15

Issue: 2

Pages: 724-735

Type: Article

DOI: 10.5209/REV_SJOP.2012.V15.N2.38884 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: The Spanish Journal of Psychology

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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.

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