This cross-sectional study examined the nature of child and adolescent psychopathy using the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) in 3,675 schoolchildren (ages 11-16) in Hong Kong, China. A confirmatory factor analysis observed a good fit for the three-factor model (callous-unemotional, impulsivity, narcissism) of APSD, with boys scoring…

Using data from three waves of a large Canadian data set, this research examined the relationship between middle-childhood trajectories of family dysfunction and indirect aggression. The authors applied family systems, developmental psychopathology, and life-course conceptualizations to meet this objective. The data analytic strategy used separate…

This study examined the prevalence, degree of association and differential effect, by sex and age, of conduct disorder symptoms on psychopathology and functioning. Participants included 680 Spanish children and adolescents between 8 and 17 years and their parents, attending to psychiatric outpatient consultation. Data were obtained through…

There is an abundance of evidence showing relatively strong associations between family characteristics and a child's psychological functioning--both within the normal range and, also, with reference to psychopathology. That has sometimes led to the assumption that equally strong associations should be found within adoptive families. Nevertheless,…

We investigated the relationship between challenging behavior and co-morbid psychopathology in adults with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) (N=124) as compared to adults with ID only (N=562). All participants were first time referrals to specialist mental health services and were living in community settings.…

The MMPI-2 continues to be widely used in many areas of professional forensic psychology, including the evaluation of criminal offenders for rehabilitation purposes. While many possible applications of the MMPI exist, not all are well-supported by strong empirical evidence. The origins of the scale among psychiatric populations suggest some…

The 6 nonoverlapping primary scales of the Structured Interview of Reported Symptoms (SIRS) were subjected to taxometric analysis in a group of 1,211 criminal and civil examinees in order to investigate the latent structure of feigned psychopathology. Both taxometric procedures used in this study, mean above minus below a cut (MAMBAC) and maximum…

While knowledge about symptom presentation of adults with mild ASD, including comorbid psychopathology, is limited, referral of adults with suspected mild PDD is increasing. We report on pilot research investigating whether patients diagnosed with mild ASD (n = 15) and patients who were not diagnosed with ASD (n = 21) differed in terms of (a) AQ…

Three psychiatric conceptual models: addictive, obsessive-compulsive spectrum and mood spectrum disorder have been proposed for pathological gambling. The objectives of this paper are to (1) evaluate the evidence base from the most recent reviews of each model, (2) update the evidence through 2007 and (3) summarize the status of the evidence for…

The aim of this study was to investigate group sex offenses with regard to the role of leaders versus followers and to compare both groups on levels of psychopathology, intelligence, and psychosocial and offense-related characteristics. Eighty-nine adolescent group sex offenders (mean age = 14.9, SD = 1.4) referred by the police to the Dutch child…

Objectives: The current study examined the independent effects of mothers' childhood abuse (CA) and intimate partner violence (IPV) on psychopathology and functional impairment in children; and the potential moderating and mediating role of individual and family factors in these relationships. Additionally, this study explored the potential…

Background: There has been increasing interest in the distinction between subthreshold and full syndrome disorders and specifically whether subthreshold conditions escalate or predict the onset of full syndrome disorders over time. Most of these studies, however, examined whether a single subthreshold condition escalates into the full syndrome…

The current study compares 3 distinct approaches for measuring juvenile psychopathy and their utility for predicting short- and long-term recidivism among a sample of 1,170 serious male juvenile offenders. The assessment approaches compared a clinical interview method (the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version [PCL:YV]; Forth, Kosson, & Hare,…

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent mental disorders. In panic disorder, panic attacks often occur at unpredictable times, making it difficult to study these episodes in the laboratory. In specific phobias, symptoms occur in very circumscribed situations and specific triggers are sometimes difficult to reproduce in the laboratory.…

Of all the videos that the author shows in psychopathology class, the one that her graduate students invariably find the most disturbing is "Crank: Made in America" (Yates, 2003). Long-time users of methamphetamine (meth) candidly tell their stories in this HBO film. The author still finds it very unsettling to watch it, even though she…