title: Factor structure of the Hare Psychopathy Checklist: youth version in German female and male detainees and community adolescents.
abstract: Substantial evidence exists for 3- and 4-factor models of psychopathy underlying patterns of covariation among the items of the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) in diverse adult samples. Although initial studies conducted with the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) indicated reasonable fit for these models in incarcerated male adolescents in the United States and the United Kingdom, only one published study has addressed the factor structure of PCL:YV psychopathy in female adolescents, and no prior studies have addressed it outside of these countries. We used confirmatory factor analysis to investigate the factor structure underlying PCL:YV scores in 314 incarcerated (143 male, 171 female) and 193 in-school (99 male, 94 female) adolescents, ages 14 to 19 years. The 2-factor model provided adequate fit only for incarcerated male adolescents and the 4-factor model was problematic in all samples, but the 3-factor solution provided an adequate model in incarcerated and community male adolescents. None of the models provided consistently acceptable fit among female adolescents. Current findings provide evidence for the robustness of the 3-factor model of psychopathy in incarcerated and community male adolescent samples but raise doubts about the applicability of this model to female adolescents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2009 APA, all rights reserved).
authors.affiliation: Clinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Cologne, Germany. kathrin.sevecke@uk-koeln.de
authors.forename: Kathrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sevecke
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pukrop
authors.forename: David S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Kosson
authors.forename: Maya K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Krischer
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012111:Residence Characteristics; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards*; D055815:Young Adult