Identifying the Contributions of Maternal Factors and Early Childhood Externalizing Behavior on Adolescent Delinquency.

We examined whether childhood externalizing group subtypes were uniquely related to maternal depression and victimization and whether these subtypes differentially predicted adolescent delinquency. Data were drawn from the Longitudinal Study on Child Abuse and Neglect (LONGSCAN) consortium (N = 1091; 51.3% female, 52.2% African American). Latent class analysis indicated three groups at age 4 (titled "well-adjusted," "hyperactive/oppositional," and "aggressive/rule-breaking"). Caregiver victimization and depression significantly predicted group membership such that aggressive/rule-breaking group had higher levels of maternal depression and victimization although the well-adjusted group had higher levels of maternal victimization relative to the hyperactive/oppositional group. Further, membership in higher externalizing groups at age four is associated with greater risk of adolescent delinquency at age 16. These findings underscore the need to address maternal risk factors in the treatment of childhood disruptive behavior and provide evidence of the continuity of disruptive behaviors from early childhood to adolescence.

"A Psychopath by Any Other Name?": Juror Perceptions of the DSM-5 "Limited Prosocial Emotions" Specifier.

DSM-5 recently added the specifier "Limited Prosocial Emotions" (LPE) to the Conduct Disorder (CD) diagnosis, yet little is known about how these traits will affect attitudes toward CD youth. Laypersons attending jury duty (N = 326) were randomly assigned to one of four case vignette conditions in which a male juvenile offender was identified as having (a) CD symptoms only, (b) CD symptoms plus a diagnostic label, (c) CD symptoms plus a diagnostic label and description of LPE traits, or (d) CD symptoms plus a description of LPE traits and a "psychopath" label. LPE traits led to more negative perceptions of the youth (e.g., more dangerous, evil, and psychopathic) and adding the psychopath label to the LPE specifier resulted in somewhat stronger support for punishment and mandated treatment. The LPE specifier may provide useful diagnostic information, but these findings raise serious concerns that it will stigmatize youth in the legal system.

Predictive validity of the personality assessment inventory (PAI) for identifying criminal reoffending following completion of an in-jail addiction treatment program.

We examined the predictive validity of the personality assessment inventory (PAI; Morey, 2007) for criminal reoffending over a 44-60 month follow-up period among incarcerated offenders (N = 124) who completed an addiction treatment program. With this study, we sought to test whether PAI scores conceptually relevant to Andrews and Bonta's (2010) central eight and responsiveness factors were predictive of general and specific reoffending in a sample with criminal involvement and substance-related impairment. PAI scores tapping antisocial personality style and the anger/hostile component of antisocial cognitions had the most robust relationships with the timing and occurrence of reoffending. Hostile dominance and discrepancy scores of observed versus predicted drug and alcohol problems were also predictive of reoffending. None of the other variables examined were consistently associated with reoffending. We discuss these results in relation to the use of the PAI to inform clinical decision making for individuals involved in the criminal justice system.

Jury panel member perceptions of interpersonal-affective traits of psychopathy predict support for execution in a capital murder trial simulation.

Recent research with college undergraduate mock jurors suggests that how psychopathic they perceive a criminal defendant to be is a powerful predictor of whether they will support a death verdict in simulated capital murder trials. Perceived affective and interpersonal traits of psychopathy are especially predictive of support for capital punishment, with perceived remorselessness explaining a disproportionate amount of variance in these attitudes. The present study attempted to extend these findings with a more representative sample of community members called for jury duty (N = 304). Jurors reviewed a case vignette based on an actual capital murder trial, provided sentencing verdicts, and rated the defendant on several characteristics historically associated with the construct of psychopathy. Consistent with prior findings, remorselessness predicted death verdicts, as did the affective and interpersonal features of psychopathy - though the latter effect was more pronounced among jurors who were Caucasian and/or who described their political beliefs as moderate rather than conservative or liberal. Results are discussed in terms of the potentially stigmatizing effects of psychopathy evidence in capital cases.

"Hired guns," "charlatans," and their "voodoo psychobabble": case law references to various forms of perceived bias among mental health expert witnesses.

Although in principle the legal system expects and professional ethics demand that expert witnesses be unbiased and objective in their forensic evaluations, anecdotal evidence suggests that accusations of financial bias, partisanship, and other forms of nonobjectivity are common. This descriptive survey of published legal cases expands on an earlier case law review (Mossman, 1999) attempting to encapsulate and summarize key issues concerning perceptions or allegations of bias in mental health expert witness testimony. Using a series of search terms reflecting various potential forms of accusatory bias, a total of 160 published civil and criminal court cases were identified in which 185 individuals (e.g., attorneys, trial and appellate judges, other witnesses) made one or more references to clinicians' alleged lack of neutrality. Allegations most typically involved describing the expert as having an opinion that was "for sale," or as a partisan or advocate for one side, although aspersions also were made concerning "junk science" testimony and comparing mental health experts to mystics and sorcerers. Our results indicate that diverse forms of bias that go beyond financial motives are alleged against mental health experts by various players in the legal system. Means are discussed by which experts can attempt to reduce the impact of such allegations.

Examining attitudes about and influences on research participation among forensic psychiatric inpatients.

Although a growing body of research has examined various types of coercive practices that may occur among psychiatric patients over the years, almost no attention has been given to coercive influences that may occur specifically in the context of recruitment into research projects. Particularly for those who are institutionalized (e.g., in-patient insanity acquittees), there are significant concerns that their autonomous decision-making to consent or not may be significantly impaired due to the highly restrictive and controlled environment in which they live. This exploratory study sought to examine patients' perceptions of coercive influences by presenting them with hypothetical research vignettes regarding possible recruitment into either a biomedical or social-behavioral research project. Among 148 multi-ethnic male and female participants across two facilities, participants reported relatively minimal perceptions that their autonomous decision-making would be impacted or that various potentially coercive factors (e.g., pressures from staff) would impair their free choice to participate (or not) in such research. To the extent that such perceptions of coercion did occur, they were moderately associated with patients' more general personality traits and attitudinal variables, such as alienation and external locus of control. Limitations of this study and their implications for future research are discussed.

Using the Personality Assessment Inventory to predict male offenders' conduct during and progression through substance abuse treatment.

Prior research has supported the utility of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI; Morey, 1991, 2007) to predict various negative outcomes among offender samples, yet few studies have specifically examined its association with behavior in treatment. In this study, the PAI was administered to 331 male offenders court ordered into substance abuse treatment. Several theoretically relevant PAI scales (e.g., Antisocial Features, Borderline Features) predicted various forms of problematic conduct (e.g., disruptive behavior, aggression) and subjective and objective ratings of treatment progress. Although there was relatively limited evidence for the superiority of any one predictor over the others, the Aggression (AGG) scale demonstrated incremental validity above and beyond other indicators for general noncompliance and aggressive behavior. Interpersonal scales also predicted select treatment behavior while sharing relatively little common variance with AGG. These findings highlight the importance of distinguishing lower order and higher order dimensions on the PAI and other measures.