Prevalence of Dangerousness to the Public, Criminogenic Risk Factors and Psychopathic Traits in Child-to-Parent Offenders and Contrast with Non-Child-to-Parent Offenders.

AIM: Child-to-parent offenders (CPOs) are commonly specialist offenders and with high rates of recidivism. Thus, a field study was designed to estimate the prevalence of recidivism in the reference measures of recidivism i.e., dangerousness, risk factors and psychopathy, and compare CPOs with non-child-to-parent juvenile offenders (non-CPOs). METHOD: A total of 136 juvenile offenders (76.5% boys), 76 CPOs and 60 non-CPOs, aged from 14 to 18 years old, were measured in terms of dangerousness, risk factors and psychopathic traits. RESULTS: For CPOs, the results show a more than common prevalence (>0.50), 75.0%, 95% CI [0.653, 0.847]) of dangerousness (caseness); a significant prevalence (>0.05) of diagnostic psychopathy (25.0%, 95% CI [0.150, 0.350]); and a common prevalence (=0.50), 55.3%, 95% CI [0.441, 0.665]) of classifications of high- and very high-risk factors. Comparatively, no significant differences were observed between CPOs and non-CPOs in terms of mental health problems (dangerousness); meanwhile CPOs exhibited significantly more interpersonal and affective psychopathic traits and significantly higher risks in family circumstances/parenting, and personality and behavior risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: The implications for prevention and intervention programs with CPOs are discussed.

Evaluation of the Executive Functioning and Psychological Adjustment of Child-to-Parent Offenders: Epidemiology and Quantification of Harm.

With the aim of ascertaining if child-to-parent offenders have impairments in the executive functions and psychological maladjustment, and to quantify the potential harm and epidemiology, a field study was designed. As for this, 76 juvenile offenders sentenced for child-to-parent violence were assessed in executive functions (Stroop tasks) and psychological adjustment (Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-Adolescent, MMPI-A). The results showed valid responses for 75 juveniles and that data were not generally biased in line with defensiveness or malingering (differential diagnosis in justice juvenile evaluations). In psychological adjustment, the results revealed a significantly higher maladjustment among offenders on all the basic clinical scales with 23% more symptoms of hysteria than the normative population, 37% more of depressive symptoms, 44% more of hypochondriac symptoms, 68% more of psychopathic deviation symptoms, 46% more of paranoid symptoms, 26% more of psychasthenic symptoms, 24% more symptoms of schizophrenia, 17% more symptoms of hypomania, and 13% more symptoms of social introversion. Epidemiologically, the prevalence rates of clinical deterioration were significantly greater than expected (0.05 in normative sample) in hypochondria (28.0%), depression (29.3%), hysteria (29.3%), psychopathic deviation (60%), paranoia (30.7%), psychasthenia (22.7%), and schizophrenia (25.3%). As for the cognitive functions, the offenders exhibited impairments estimated at 62.0% in word reading, 47.9% in color naming, 45.8% in color-word, and 11.9% in interference and a significantly higher prevalence of caseness than expected in word reading (65%), color naming (71%), and color-word (70.2%). The implications of the results for intervention are discussed.