NCJ Number
221658
Journal
Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 35 Issue: 2 Dated: February 2008 Pages: 244-262
Date Published
February 2008
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This study is a preliminary longitudinal investigation of the stability of psychopathic characteristics within a group of aggressive children (n=80).
Abstract
Study findings support the theory that narcissism, callousness-unemotional traits (CU), and impulsive-conduct problems (ICP) during the developmental period of late elementary and/or early middle school are stable characteristics, based on both parent and teacher reports. Specifically, for each of these psychopathic characteristics, earlier time points were significantly related to later time points and accounted for 40-60 percent of the variance in the later scores on psychopathic characteristics. This supports the view that psychopathic characteristics are based in a relatively stable temperamental pattern that persists over time. Still, social relationships did moderate some of the reports of psychopathic characteristics, suggesting that the presence of constructive social interactions can promote changes in problem behaviors. The 80 study participants were recruited as part of a larger investigation of the effectiveness of a school-based prevention program for moderately aggressive children. Of the 80 participants, 56.3 percent were boys. Data were collected from four sources: children, parents, teachers, and peers. The initial baseline data collection for parent-reported and child-reported information occurred in the summer prior to the students' fifth-grade year, and teacher-reported and peer-reported baseline data were collected a few months after students began their fifth-grade year. Subsequent data were collected from the four sources at two time points during a 2-year span after baseline. 9 tables and 51 references