Search results

The purpose of this paper is to develop and validate the None in Three Victim Responsiveness Assessment (Ni3: VRA) examining affective and cognitive responsiveness toward victims of intimate partner violence.

Data were collected at two time points in a sample of 359 young people from Barbados and Grenada (56.27 percent female; M age=12.73 years).

Confirmatory factor analysis results indicated that the Ni3: VRA scores are best captured by a two-factor solution, including affective and cognitive dimensions. A test-retest correlation confirmed the reliability of the Ni3: VRA over time. Affective responsiveness formed a significant positive association with caring/cooperative behavior.

The Ni3: VRA can be used for the evaluation of preventive strategies aimed at reducing the rates of IPV.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating role of psychopathy facets on the relationship between traumatic exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomology.

Participants were male prisoners incarcerated in the UK.

The analysis revealed differential associations between the two facets of psychopathy, with potentially traumatic events and symptoms of PTSD. Specifically, neither primary psychopathy nor trauma exposure were significantly related to PTSD, while secondary psychopathy was positively and significantly related with PTSD symptoms. Furthermore, the effect of trauma exposure on PTSD was found to depend on the level of secondary psychopathy. More specifically, trauma exposure was strongly and positively associated with PTSD symptoms for low levels of secondary psychopathy and negatively associated with PTSD symptomology for individuals with high levels of secondary psychopathy.

The findings clarify linkages among psychopathy facets, trauma, and PTSD, and extend the understanding of the presentation of PTSD in male prisoners.

Prior research has highlighted gender differences in academic motivational attributes, and how these predict academic achievement for each gender; however, a vast amount of inconsistency exists amongst such literature. The purpose of this paper is to examine the predictive value of academic motivation (achievement goal, leaning goal, performance goal (PG), self-efficacy (SE), and active learning strategies (ALS)) and study time in explaining academic achievement amongst male and female students.

Cross-sectional survey design was applied. Participants were sampled opportunistically, and consisted of final year undergraduate students, including both males (n=126) and females (n=189) attending various courses at a UK university.

A multiple regression analysis carried out for each gender revealed that study time, ALS, PG, and SE were significant predictors of achievement for males, whereas SE was the only significant predictor of achievement for females.

These findings offer practical implications in terms of methods employed by educators to enhance academic achievement. Such implications highlight the importance of the development of SE in both genders and propose methods in which universities can enhance motivation in male and female students. Recommendations for future research are also made.

Few studies assess how child abuse and neglect (CAN) affects adolescents’ mental health. Further, the majority of studies conducted to date discount the individual CAN items and report overall prevalence rates for different types of abuse and neglect. The purpose of this study was to examine the levels of and gender differences in CAN subtypes, lifetime prevalence of individual CAN items and the contribution of different CAN subtypes for explaining depression, anxiety and irritability.

The sample included Jamaican (n = 7,182, 60.8% female) and Ugandan (n = 11,518, 52.4% female) youths. The authors used a population-based cross-sectional study design. Youths completed an anonymous survey in school settings.

The authors found gender differences in the levels of CAN subtypes. Maltreatment behaviors of lesser severity were more commonly endorsed by the youths than those of greater severity. Neglect and emotional abuse were the strongest correlates of depression (e.g. neglect: ß = 0.23, among Jamaican youths; emotional abuse outside-the-home: ß = 0.23, among Ugandan girls), anxiety (e.g. neglect: ß = 0.17, among Ugandan girls; emotional abuse outside-the-home: ß = 0.27, among Ugandan girls) and irritability (e.g. emotional abuse in-the-home: ß = 0.17, among Jamaican boys; emotional abuse outside-the-home: ß = 0.17, among Ugandan girls) in most samples.

These findings will inform policymakers and professionals working with youths in Jamaica and Uganda, providing comprehensive contemporary insights beyond existing research in these regions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of four psychopathy factors (Interpersonal Manipulation (IPM), Callous Affect (CA), Erratic Lifestyle (ELS), and Antisocial Behaviour (ASB)) and the length of incarceration in reactive aggression. The predictive effect of dissatisfaction with peer relations, childhood experiences of violence, and criminal friends on reactive forms of aggressive acts is also explored.

In total, 129 (n=129) male prisoners incarcerated in Stargard Szczecinski Prison were recruited for the study. Cross-sectional design using self-report questionnaire of retrospective and prospective nature was utilised.

Hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed that only one psychopathy facet, IPM, forms a significant association with reactive aggression. Another accurate correlate of reactive aggression was the length of incarceration.

The results of the present study indicate that the commonly suggested two-factor models of psychopathy may be misguided. Future studies examining the effect of psychopathy facets on aggression should consider IPM and CA as separate dimensions. Additionally, this study is the first to demonstrate that reactive aggression may be exacerbated during incarceration.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of psychopathy factors and gang membership on moral disengagement while controlling for age, ethnicity, having run away from home, family member and/or friend arrests, substance misuse, parental physical fights, violence exposure (victimization and witnessing), and maternal warmth and hostility.

The research is based on data collected from serious juvenile offenders (n=769) as part of the Pathways to Desistance Study.

Six independent variables made a unique statistically significant contribution to the model: gang membership, age, gender, violence exposure, and psychopathy Factors 1 and 2. Psychopathy Factor 1 was the strongest predictor of moral disengagement.

Results indicate that youth with heightened psychopathic traits make greater use of strategies to rationalize and justify their harmful behaviour against others. Implications in relation to theory and previous studies are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the dimensionality, composite reliability, and incremental validity of the Measure of Criminal Social Identity (MCSI) in a sample of Pakistani incarcerated delinquents (n=315) following translation of the measure into Urdu.

Four alternative factor models, with uncorrelated measurement error terms, were specified and tested using confirmatory factor analysis and bifactor modelling techniques.

Results indicated that a three-factor model provided a better fit to the data than the alternative models tested. The reliability of the scale was established using composite reliability. Furthermore, structural equation modelling revealed that the three MCSI factors were differentially related with external variables, indicating that the MCSI measures substantially different domains.

Implications for theory and future research are discussed.

The results add valuable evidence as to the cross-cultural applicability of the MCSI.

The purpose of this paper is to present and provide a critical review of most recent studies inquiring into brain abnormalities in psychopathy.

The authors provide an overview of the findings of neurobiological studies conducted in the last five years. Publications chosen for review were found using Web of Science, PsycINFO and Scopus search engines.

Data in the literature reveal that psychopathy is associated with brain abnormalities in frontal and temporo-limbic regions, i.e. regions responsible for moral decision making, emotional processing and learning. Additionally, interactions between the brain areas have been identified as crucial for the development of psychopathic personality traits. Research findings suggest that the flow of impulses between the frontal cortex and temporo-limbic structures in psychopaths is significantly hindered.

The current paper provides an in-depth review of most recent neurobiological studies inquiring into brain abnormalities associated with psychopathic personality traits. Moreover, a particular attention has been paid to identifying abnormalities in brain structures not previously studied in relation to psychopathy (e.g. mirror neuron system, white matter connections).