Gender differences in adolescent psychopathy

Objective: The study addresses gender limitations found in the literature on adolescent psychopathy by examining gender differences in adolescent evaluations of psychopathy in a sample of serious male and female juvenile offenders across a 6-year period. Method: This study compared adolescent males and females identified with high psychopathic traits on several theoretically driven variables. Youth were classified as primary and secondary based on the theoretical perspective proffered by Karpman (1948, 1955) and compared across gender. Regression models were used to assess the YPI's ability to predict short- and long-term offending. Results: There are significant differences between adolescent males and females with high psychopathic traits. Adolescent females were three times more likely to be identified with secondary psychopathy than with primary psychopathy, while there is not a significant difference between males with primary and secondary psychopathy. High psychopathic traits are good predictors of both short- and long-term offending in males; however, they are only able to accurately predict short-term offending in females. Conclusion: There are marked gender differences in adolescents with high psychopathic traits. Differences were found between primary and secondary psychopathy; females are significantly more likely to be identified with secondary psychopathy, which is more likely to respond to treatment. Self-reported offending declined for both genders across time. Use of psychopathy assessments in forensic practice to inform decisions regarding denial of treatment, harsher sentencing, and waiver to adult court may not be appropriate, but rather used to guide treatment.