title: Implicit attitudes and self-concepts towards transgression and aggression: differences between male community and offender adolescents, and associations with psychopathic traits.
abstract: Research suggests that implicit attitudes play a key role in the occurrence of antisocial behaviours. This study assessed implicit attitudes and self-concepts related to aggression and transgression in community and offender adolescents, using a new set of Implicit Association Tests (IATs), and examined their association with of psychopathic traits. Thirty-six offenders and 66 community adolescents performed 4 IATs assessing 1) implicit attitudes about a) aggression and b) transgression as good, and 2) implicit self-concepts about a) aggression and b) transgression as self-descriptive. They filled in self-report questionnaires: the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory, the Child Behaviour Checklist, and explicit measures of their attitudes and self-concepts towards transgression and aggression. Results showed few differences between community and offender adolescents on implicit attitudes and self-concepts, and unexpected negative associations between some implicit attitudes and psychopathic traits, while the association was positive for the corresponding explicit attitudes. Possible explanations of these findings are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Switzerland. Electronic address: Maya.Suter@chuv.ch.
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suter
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing, University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland, Fribourg, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Sandrine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pihet
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Ridder
authors.affiliation: LabDCI, Institute of Psychology, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Grégoire
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zimmermann
authors.affiliation: Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Service, Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital Center, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stephan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology*; D000987:Antisocial Personality Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D003415:Crime / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012649:Self Concept; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Aggression; IAT; Implicit attitudes; Implicit self-concepts; Psychopathic traits; Rule-breaking