There is currently little scientific research on male juvenile offenders with Conduct Disorder (CD), while 73% of male juvenile offenders have this disorder. In addition, many adolescents with CD...Show moreThere is currently little scientific research on male juvenile offenders with Conduct Disorder (CD), while 73% of male juvenile offenders have this disorder. In addition, many adolescents with CD receive no treatment or the incorrect treatment, while demonstrating high levels of aggression and psychopathic traits. People with CD show abnormalities in brain areas responsible for social cognition. The question is whether the neurocognitive abnormalities for social cognition is the cause of symptomatic behaviors such as aggression and psychopathic traits. This study aimed to investigate whether there is an association between social cognition, aggression and psychopathy in male juvenile delinquents with CD. The sample consisted of 52 male juvenile delinquents with CD (M = 16.94 years; SD = 1.36 years; range = 15 - 19 years). The mean IQ was 95.92 (SD = 6.45). In addition, the mean socioeconomic status (SES) of the participants was -0.83 (SD = 1.80; range = -5.24 - 2.77). The following questionnaires were used: Social Responsiveness Scale (SRS), Reactive Proactive Questionnaire (RPQ) and the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI). Results showed that impairments in social cognition was a significant predictor of both reactive aggression and total aggression score. No significant association was found between impairments in social cognition and proactive aggression and psychopathy. The current research contributes to the knowledge of the treatment of male juvenile delinquents with CD. More scientific research is needed to confirm the results of this study.Show less
Expressions of antisocial behaviour have a detrimental impact on society. Given the heterogeneity among offenders, however, treatment effects yield various levels of success in diminishing...Show moreExpressions of antisocial behaviour have a detrimental impact on society. Given the heterogeneity among offenders, however, treatment effects yield various levels of success in diminishing antisocial behaviour. Knowledge on the origin of the differences between offenders is thus crucial. Recent research found that positive self-concept was associated with less hostility. This suggests that self-concept might explain some of the heterogeneity between offenders. The main objective of the present study was to examine the effect of the valence of self-concept on aggression type in individuals who presented high psychopathic traits. First, the association between psychopathy and aggression type was explored. Second, the relation between psychopathic traits and self-concept and the moderating effect of selfconcept on psychopathic traits and aggression was examined. Additionally, the relation between psychopathic trait factors (interpersonal-affective factor, and behavioural-lifestyle factor) and aggression types (proactive, and reactive) was examined, followed by an analysis to examine if selfconcept would differently moderate this relation. In total, 67 participants were included for this crosssectional survey study, of which 33 had completed a fMRI self-concept task. The questionnaires that were analyzed were the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory and the Reactive-Proactive Aggression Questionnaire. The results indicated that a significant effect was found between both the interpersonalaffective factor (p = .001) and the behavioural-lifestyle factor (p = .019) and proactive aggression, and the behavioural-lifestyle factor and reactive aggression (p = .008). Second, a significant positive association was found between the interpersonal-affective factor and self-concept (p = .002). The moderation analyses showed that self-concept did not influence the relation between psychopathic traits and aggression. Given the positive correlation between the interpersonal-affective factor and proactive aggression and the association between self-concept and the interpersonal-affective factor, it can be argued that the promotion of a positive self-concept might lower the interpersonal-affective factor of psychopathy and therefore may also be of influence on aggression. This suggestion, however, needs a stronger body of empirical evidence to support it, since the moderation analysis did not support this hypothesis. Knowledge on the interaction between these variables could provide information for the design of possible treatment interventions for individuals with high psychopathic traits.Show less
Background. Both Moroccan boys and psychopaths are overrepresented in justice institutions. Limited research is available about possible overlap. This study focused on the relationship between...Show moreBackground. Both Moroccan boys and psychopaths are overrepresented in justice institutions. Limited research is available about possible overlap. This study focused on the relationship between implicit and explicit self-esteem and psychopathic traits in Dutch and Moroccan boys adolescents between 12 and 18 years old. Methods. The Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale were used to measure psychopathic traits and explicit self-esteem. Implicit self-esteem was examined by the Implicit Association Task Self-Esteem. Results. Moroccan and Dutch boys didn’t seem to differ in both implicit and explicit self-esteem. Moroccan boys showed higher scores on the affective factor, Dutch boys on the lifestyle factor. Low self-esteem in Moroccan youth caused higher levels of psychopathic traits. Since this relation wasn’t found for the native Dutch boys, the social-defeat model might be a plausible explanation for this outcome. Future research should focus on distinguishing psychopathy in primary traits and secondary traits by fear and anxiety, rather than by the affective and lifestyle factor. Secondary, increasing self-esteem among Moroccan boys is important in order to reduce the chance of developing psychopathic traits caused by social-defeat.Show less
