This study presents evidence on the reliability and construct validity of the Dutch version of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI), a self‐report instrument for psychopathic traits in adolescent boys and girls. In a sample of 776 Dutch non‐referred adolescents, the YPI was found to have good internal consistency. Furthermore, exploratory Principal Components Analysis (PCA) indicated a three‐factor structure for the YPI, including a Grandiose–manipulative, Callous–unemotional, and Impulsive–irresponsible dimension. Good internal consistency was demonstrated for all dimensions in boys as well as girls, except for the Callous–unemotional dimension. Results further indicated strong correlations between psychopathic traits and dominant and hostile interpersonal style. The Grandiose–manipulative dimension predicted dominant interpersonal behavior in boys, but not in girls. In girls, a dominant interpersonal style was predicted by the Impulsive–irresponsible dimension. Psychopathic traits, mainly the Impulsive–irresponsible dimension, were related to a higher frequency of self‐reported drug and alcohol use in boys and girls.

BackgroundThe population in juvenile justice institutions is heterogeneous, as juveniles display a large variety of individual, psychological and social problems. This variety of risk factors and personal characteristics complicates treatment planning. Insight into subgroups and specific profiles of problems in serious juvenile offenders is helpful in identifying important treatment indicators for each subgroup of serious juvenile offenders.MethodsTo identify subgroups with combined offender characteristics, cluster-analyses were performed on data of 2010 adolescents from all juvenile justice institutions in the Netherlands. The study included a wide spectrum of static and dynamic offender characteristics and was a replication of a previous study, in order to replicate and validate the identified subgroups. To identify the subgroups that are most useful in clinical practice, different numbers of subgroup-solutions were presented to clinicians.ResultsCombining both good statistical fit and clinical relevance resulted in seven subgroups. Most subgroups resemble the subgroups found in the previous study and one extra subgroups was identified. Subgroups were named after their own identifying characteristics: (1) sexual problems, (2) antisocial identity and mental health problems, (3) lack of empathy and conscience, (4) flat profile, (5) family problems, (6) substance use problems, and (7) sexual, cognitive and social problems.ConclusionsSubgroups of offenders as identified seem rather stable. Therefore risk factor scores can help to identify characteristics of serious juvenile offenders, which can be used in clinical practice to adjust treatment to the specific risk and needs of each subgroup.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s13034-017-0201-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The aim of the current study is to gain a better insight into the relationship between sexually aggressive behaviour and psychopathy in youths; juveniles who sexually offended (JSOs) were compared with generally offending youths and a general population group. Seventy-one JSOs, 416 detained general offenders, and 331 males from the general population were assessed by means of the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI), a self-report instrument. Sexually and generally offending juveniles had significantly lower levels of self-reported psychopathic traits than youths from the general population. Juvenile sexual offenders and generally offending juveniles did not differ in self-reported psychopathic traits. Furthermore, no differences in self-reported psychopathic traits were found between subgroups of JSOs (i.e., child molesters, solo offenders, and group offenders). The finding that self-reported psychopathic traits are less prevalent in offending juveniles than in general population youths raises questions about the usefulness of the YPI when comparing psychopathic traits between clinical samples and general-population samples.

In the present study, the structural validity of the Dutch version of the Psychopathy CheckList: Youth Version (in Dutch: Psychopathie Checklist: Jeugd Versie; PCL:YV; de Ruiter, Kuin, de Vries, & Das, 2002) was examined in adolescent offenders by means of Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Item Response Theory (IRT). The PCL:YV item ratings for 269 adolescent males, either admitted to a Dutch juvenile treatment institution or psychologically evaluated upon request of the court, were used to test the fit of different factor models presumed to represent the structure of psychopathy as measured by the PCL-R in adults. The study provides support for a good absolute and relative fit for the 3-factor model, but not for the 4-factor model. Results from IRT analyses demonstrate the highest discriminative value for the affective items in the Dutch adolescent sample. The present findings demonstrate poor discriminative power and age influence on item functioning for most antisocial items of the fourth factor.