Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder-Short Version (PSCD-SV): Psychometric Properties, Concurrent Correlates and Parenting Predictors

Abstract

The present study aims to further examine the four-factor model of psychopathy in adolescence with a new alternate model for the assessment of psychopathic traits and conduct disorder (CD): The Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder-Short version (PSCD-SV). Data were collected in a sample of 414 adolescents (49.2% females) aged 12–15 at the first assessment who were then followed-up 2 years later. Results supported the usefulness of the PSCD-SV to assess the broader construct of psychopathy showing good psychometric properties, including adequate reliability and validity, while accounting for all its dimensions. In addition, the study showed close associations between psychopathic traits and adolescent behavioral, emotional and psychosocial maladjustment. Finally, the findings elucidated the PSCD’s connection to parental support and psychological control, and reinforced the potential role of parenting practices as predictors that can act as mechanisms of change in the development of psychopathy. Overall, current findings shed light on conceptual and developmental models of psychopathy that may have implications for assessment, diagnostic classification, prevention, and intervention.

Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder (PSCD) self‐report: Factor structure and validation in a community sample of Belgian youth

“…An increasing number of studies across countries and ethnic groups have shown that individuals with elevated psychopathic characteristics are at increased risk for a variety of mental health problems as well as concurrent and prospective conduct problems (Andershed et al, 2018; López‐Romero et al, 2022; Somma et al, 2018). The present study adds to this research base by illustrating that the PSCD‐SV is correlated with a number of meaningful external correlates including the five‐factor model of personality, peer functioning, prosocial behavior, and externalizing behavior.…”

“…Specifically, the PSCD has been shown to correlate positively with alternate measures of psychopathy and to exhibit good discriminant validity and to relate to a variety of external correlates such as reaction to unfamiliar peers, proactive aggression, reactive aggression, substance use, and arrest history (e.g., Salekin et al, 2022). Three studies have shown evidence for a shortened PSCD, 13‐item, four‐factor model with acceptable internal consistency and good inter‐item correlation coefficients for its subscales (López‐Romero et al, 2022; Luo et al, 2021; Salekin et al, 2022). Importantly, for the long‐term purposes of the PSCD, the PSCD subscales appear to demonstrate temporal stability (Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2023) and also to exhibit distinct linkages to external correlates, highlighting the significance of investigating the broader construct of psychopathy and its underpinning dimensions, including CD.…”

Evidence-Based Assessment of DSM-5 Disruptive, Impulse Control, and Conduct Disorders

“…Validation studies of self-report versions have been conducted in samples adolescents in the United States (Salekin et al, 2022), Iran (Elhami Athar et al, 2022), China (Luo et al, 2021), Italy (Muratori et al, 2021), and Portugal (Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2021) and among detained Belgian youth (Colins et al, 2022). A shortened self-report version has been tested in a sample of Spanish adolescents (Lopez-Romero et al, 2022), and a parent-report version in a sample of Spanish preschoolers between 3 and 6 years of age (Lopez-Romero et al, 2019). It should be noted however that the PSCD does not assess all DSM-5 CD symptoms and does not specifically assess LPE.…”

Proposed Specifiers for Conduct Disorder (PSCD): Further validation of the parent-report version in a nationally representative U.S. sample of 10- to 17-year-olds.

“…The PSCD also appears to be meaningfully related to external criterion correlates such as reactive and proactive aggression, substance use, educational difficulties, and arrest history (e.g., Salekin, Charles, et al, 2022). Three studies additionally show support for the abbreviated 13-item four-factor PSCD model with acceptable internal consistency estimates (López-Romero et al, 2023; Luo et al, 2021; Salekin, Charles, et al, 2022). Importantly, for the long-term utility of the PSCD, the PSCD subscales demonstrate temporal stability (Ribeiro da Silva et al, 2023) and incremental validity over and above well-established youth psychopathy scales in the prediction of CD and ODD symptoms as well as of reactive and proactive aggression and other CD-relevant behaviors (e.g., Bellamy et al, 2023; Colins et al, 2023).…”