Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Antisocial Process Screening Device

• Author: Victoria Hidalgo,Lucía Jiménez,Pedro Pechorro,Cristina Nunes
• DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15588903
• Published date: 01 December 2016
• Date: 01 December 2016
• Subject Matter: Articles

International Journal of

Offender Therapy and

Comparative Criminology

2016, Vol. 60(16) 1856 –1872

© The Author(s) 2015

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DOI: 10.1177/0306624X15588903

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Article

Confirmatory Factor Analysis

of the Antisocial Process

Screening Device: Self-Report

Among Incarcerated Male

Juvenile Offenders

Pedro Pechorro1, Victoria Hidalgo1, Cristina Nunes2,

and Lucía Jiménez1

Abstract

The main aim of the present study was to examine the factor structure, internal

consistency, and some additional psychometric properties of the Antisocial

Process Screening Device–Self-Report (APSD-SR) among a large forensic sample of

incarcerated male juvenile offenders (N = 438). The results, based on this forensic

sample, support the use of the APSD-SR in terms of its factor structure, and

internal consistency despite the fact an item had to be removed from the callous-

unemotional (CU) dimension. Statistically significant positive associations were found

with measures of psychopathic traits, CU traits, narcissism, and aggression, as well

as negative associations with a measure of empathy. Findings provide support for the

use of the APSD-SR among the incarcerated male juvenile offender population.

Keywords

Antisocial Process Screening Device–Self-Report (APSD-SR), adolescence, juvenile

delinquency, psychopathic traits, validation

Over the last decades, research has extended the concept of psychopathy to children

and adolescents, suggesting that those with elevated psychopathic traits are a particu-

larly important subgroup of antisocial youth who tends to engage in more severe,

1Faculty of Psychology, Seville University, Spain

2Research Centre for Spatial Organizational Dynamics, Algarve University, Portugal

Corresponding Author:

Pedro Pechorro, University of Seville, C/Camilo José Cela, s/n, 41018, Seville, Spain.

Email: ppechorro@gmail.com

588903IJOXXX10.1177/0306624X15588903International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative CriminologyPechorro et al.

research-article2015

Pechorro et al. 1857

persistent, and aggressive types of behaviors and also shows especially poor treatment

responses compared with antisocial youth with normative levels of psychopathic traits

(Edens, Campbell, & Weir, 2007; Feilhauer & Cima, 2013; Frick, 2009; Frick &

White, 2008; Salekin & Lynam, 2010). Therefore, psychopathic traits may have strong

clinical and forensic relevance for identifying a subgroup of antisocial youth with

unique etiologies and particularly severe and persistent behavior problems and delin-

quent behaviors.

The Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Frick & Hare, 2001) is currently

the most researched questionnaire measure of child and youth psychopathy (Patrick,

2010; Sharp & Kine, 2008). It was developed as a 20-item measure originally designed

for children (aged 6-13 years), whose items are scored on a 3-point ordinal scale and

were adapted to better reflect life experiences in school, peer, and family domains. In

its current version, the APSD is basically a downward extension of the Psychopathy

Checklist–Revised (PCL-R; Hare, 1991/2003) adult model of psychopathy, and origi-

nally it was called Psychopathy Screening Device. For example, Item 12 “Feels bad or

guilty” (R) from the callous-unemotional (CU) dimension relates to the PCL-R item

that assesses callousness/lack of empathy; Item 6 “Lies easily and skillfully” taps the

pathological lying item. The APSD ratings are obtained from adults (parents or teach-

ers) who know the youths well and are willing to collaborate.

Caputo, Frick, and Brodsky (1999) adapted an experimental self-report version of

the APSD (APSD-SR) for use with older youths (aged 12-18 years) by creating second

person stems for each item (e.g., Item 6; “You lie skillfully and easily”). These authors,

using a sample of adjudicated male adolescents (n = 69), were able to show that

APSD-SR scores distinguished violent sex offenders from non-sexual violent offend-

ers and non-violent offenders, and were correlated with a variety of offenses before

institutionalization and with violence while incarcerated. Self-report tends to become

more reliable and valid as a child enters adolescence, especially for assessing antiso-

cial tendencies and attitudes that may not be observable to parents and other signifi-

cant adult (see Frick, Barry, & Bodin, 2000). Although not originally designed

specifically for use with justice-involved youths, it is particularly important to evalu-

ate the self-report version of the APSD with this population because it has become a

popular measure for assessing psychopathic features in justice-involved adolescents

(Poythress, Douglas, et al., 2006).

The issue of factor structure is important due to the ongoing process of how best to

define and measure psychopathy. According to Forth, Kosson, and Hare (2003), the

possibility that the PCL family of instruments (e.g., PCL-R, PCL:YV, APSD) may

share a similar factor structure suggests that there may be considerable continuity in

the structure of psychopathy from adolescence to adulthood. Some studies using the

APSD-SR have provided supporting evidence for the three-factor model. For exam-

ple, Vitacco, Rogers, and Neumann (2003), using two separate samples of male and

female adolescent offenders incarcerated in a maximum security facility (n = 78) and

a local juvenile detention facility (n = 77), examined the factor structure of the

APSD-SR and reported a very good fit for the three-factor model, but that the original

two-factor model fit their data poorly. However, Items 19 “Does not show emotions”