PREDICTORS OF ADOLESCENT PSYCHOPATHY - OPPOSITIONAL AND CONDUCT-DISORDERED SYMPTOMS

Psychopathy is an important clinical construct in the evaluation and t reatment of adolescent offenders. In this study, predictors of adolesc ent psychopathy are explored in 81 adolescents from a residential trea tment program for dually diagnosed offenders. The number of aggressive conduct disorder symptoms and total rate (number x frequency of sympt oms) of deceit/theft symptoms are predictive of adolescent psychopathy . Although age of onset for conduct disorder symptoms is associated wi th psychopathy, its interpretation appears to be confounded by gender and ethnicity correlates. Unexpectedly, adolescent psychopathy was onl y modestly associated with institutional infractions. Past research an d current findings are summarized with reference to their forensic imp lications.