The Relationship between Self-rated Psychopathic Traits and Psychopathology in a Sample of Finnish Community Youth: Exploration of Gender Differences

Abstract

Background: Associations between psychopathic traits and other forms of psychopathology among youth in the community, as well as gender differences in these associations have been scarcely studied yet. The present study aimed to explore this relationship in a sample of Finnish mid-adolescent girls and boys. Methods:The sample comprised 370 secondary school ninth-graders with the mean age of 15.1 years (SD 0.28). The Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI) and the Youth Self Report (YSR) served as self-assessments.Results: Boys showed significantly higher traits of psychopathy, but girls scored significantly higher on the Total Problems as well as on the majority of the syndrome scales on the YSR. In both genders, psychopathic traits correlated highly with rule-breaking and aggressive behavior, moderately with attention and thought complaints, and modestly with depression, anxiety, withdrawal and social problems. The correlations between psychopathic traits and somatic problems were moderate in boys, but modest in girls. The correlations showed only a few statistically significant gender differences: the correlation between the Affective dimension of the YPI and the rule-breaking behavior syndrome scale of the YSR, as well as the correlation between the Interpersonal dimension of the YPI and somatic problems were stronger in boys than in girls. Conclusions:Even though boys show higher traits of psychopathy and girls exhibit more general psychopathology, the correlations between psychopathic traits and other forms of psychopathology closely resemble each other. In both genders, psychopathic traits correlate positively with both externalizing and internalizing problems. The callous-unemotional traits correlate more strongly with rule-breaking behavior in boys than in girls. Screening for psychopathic traits among adolescents with psychosocial adjustment problems seems relevant.

The relationships between gender, psychopathic traits and self-reported delinquency: a comparison between a general population sample and a high-risk sample for juvenile delinquency

“…An extensive body of research has documented that a high proportion of especially youths from the high-risk sample meet criteria for psychopathology [ 22 , 23 ]. Since psychopathic traits have been found to be related to psychopathology (e.g., [ 8 , 9 , 21 ]) and psychopathology has been found to be related to delinquent behavior in youths (e.g., [ 22 – 24 ]), it is reasonable to suggest that the level of psychopathology influences the relationship between psychopathic traits and specific forms of delinquent behavior, and therefore may have influenced our results.…”

“…The few studies focusing on psychopathic traits in non-juvenile justice youths demonstrate that psychopathic traits are highly associated with delinquent behavior. For example, Oshukova et al [ 8 ] found that in a community sample, in both boys and girls, psychopathic traits were highly correlated with rule-breaking and aggressive behavior. In addition, the correlation between psychopathic traits and rule-breaking behavior was significantly higher in boys than in girls.…”

CAPMH health-related quality of life among adolescent psychiatric outpatients: a 12-month follow-up study among 12–14-year-old Finnish boys and girls

“…It is also known that adolescent girls express better self-observation readiness than boys. For example, studies using the Youth Self-Report (YSR) instrument by Achenbach and Rescorla [ 37 ] have repeatedly found that girls report more problems in their emotional and behavioral functioning than boys [ 38 , 39 ].…”