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While research has consistently identified an association between cannabis use and psychosis, few studies have examined this relationship in a polydrug context (i.e. combining cannabis with other illicit substances). The paper aims to discuss this issue.

The present study sought to examine the association between recreational drug use (cannabis only vs polydrug) and psychotic disorders. Analysis was conducted on a large, representative survey of young Danish people aged 24 (n=4,718). Participants completed self-report measures of lifetime drug use and this information was linked to the Danish psychiatric registry system.

Multivariate binary logistic regression analysis was used to examine the association between drug use (no drug use, cannabis only, cannabis and other drug) and ICD-10 psychotic disorders, while controlling for gender and parental history of psychosis. Compared with no drug use, the use of cannabis only did not increase the risk of psychosis while the odds ratio for cannabis and other drug were statistically significant.

Psychosis risk may be associated with the cumulative effect of polydrug use.

Cannabis use may be a proxy for other drug use in research studies.

This study is innovative as it uses linked self-report and administrative data for a large sample. Administrative data were used to as an objective mental health status indicator.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce the reader to the nature of confirmatory bifactor modelling. Confirmatory bifactor modelling is a factor analytic procedure that allows researchers to model unidimensionality and multidimensionality simultaneously. This method has important applications in the field of criminal psychology.

This paper begins by introducing the topic of factor analysis and explains how confirmatory bifactor modelling is similar yet distinct to the more familiar factor analytical procedures in the psychological literature.

Through practical examples this paper explains the value of this analytical technique to researchers in criminal psychology. Examples from the existing criminal psychological literature are used to illustrate the way in which bifactor analysis allows important theoretical questions to be addressed.

This paper highlights the strengths and limitations associated with traditional “restricted” confirmatory bifactor models and introduces the notion of the “unrestricted” bifactor model. The unrestricted bifactor model allows greater flexibility for addressing interesting research questions. The paper concludes by providing the reader with an annotated Mplus syntax file for how to perform confirmatory bifactor modelling.

The aim of the current study is to investigate criminal psycho‐social cognition, criminal associates and personality traits as predictors of non‐violent recidivism.

The sample consisted of 179 male non‐violent offenders. Each offender completed self‐report measures assessing criminal attitudes, criminal associates, criminal social identity and Eysenck's personality traits. Recidivism was assessed through self‐reported frequency of imprisonment. A sequential moderated multiple regression analysis investigated the relationship between criminal thinking, criminal social identity and level of recidivism with the moderating role of personality.

Results indicate that criminal thinking is moderated by personality in the prediction of recidivism such that respondents who score high on psychoticism and low on neuroticism and extraversion show a positive association between criminal think styles and recidivism.

It is suggested that future research and risk assessment instruments consider the interaction between risk factors in the prediction of recidivism, rather than investigating the factors independently.

This study is a valuable contribution as it investigates non‐violent recidivism specifically, and informs on the moderating influence of personality in the prediction of this behaviour.

Social Identity Theory proposes that identity and thinking style are strongly related. Research also suggests that the process of depersonalization is responsible for shifting from personal identity to social identity and assimilating group attitudes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the nature of personality in the relationship between criminal social identity and criminal thinking style.

The Measure of Criminal Attitudes, the Measure of Criminal Social Identity, and The Eysenck Personality Questionnaire was administrated to a sample of recidivistic male prisoners with learning difficulties (n=312).

Sequential moderated multiple regression analyses indicated the unique main effect of extraversion, psychoticism, in‐group affect, and in‐group ties on criminal thinking style. In terms of the moderating role of personality, the in‐group affect was more strongly associated with criminal thinking for low levels of extraversion, whereas high levels of extraversion moderated the positive relationship between in‐group ties and criminal thinking style.

The findings provide the first empirical support for the moderating role of personality in the relationship between criminal identity and criminal thinking style of offenders with learning difficulties.

The current study seeks to assess the predictive utility of personality, family violence, associations with criminal friends, peer rejection, parental attachment, and parental supervision as predictors of homicidal behaviour among a sample of 144 male recidivistic offenders.

This research project utilized a quasi‐experimental design with propensity score matching in order to minimize the effect of selection bias. Post‐matching binary logistic regression analysis was subsequently conducted in order to determine what factors predict homicidal behaviour.

Post‐matching regression results indicated that experience of family violence, psychoticism, and parental attachments were significant predictors of being a homicidal murderer.

The findings provide strong empirical support for the important role of early childhood experiences in the prediction of homicidal acts, along with the crucial role of personality (psychoticism). These findings provide additional support for Eysenck's theoretical indications regarding the role of psychoticism in the prediction of violent criminal behaviours.

This study aims to examine the construct validity and factor structure of the Rosenberg self‐esteem scale (RSES) using a sample (n=312) of Polish prisoners incarcerated in Nowogard High Security Prison.

The number of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) models under investigation was limited to two by virtue of employing a much stricter and more rigorously sound methodological procedure in which item errors were prevented from correlating, as suggested by Brown.

Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the two‐factor (positive and negative self‐esteem) model provided a better fit for the RSES items than did the one‐factor model.

The results provide some initial support for the two‐dimensional model that could possibly be measuring substantively separate factors within a prison sample, thus calling into question the one‐factor solution of the RSES.