Anne-Marie R. Iselin

Psychopathic Traits in Youth: Is There Evidence for Primary and Secondary Subtypes?

The current study employed model-based cluster analysis in a sample of male adolescent offenders (n = 94) to examine subtypes based on psychopathic traits and anxiety. Using the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV; Forth et al. 2003) and the self-report Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD; Caputo et al. 1999), analyses identified three clusters in males that varied in the severity of psychopathic traits (low, moderate, and high) and anxiety. The high psychopathic group exhibited more negative personality traits and was judged to be at greater risk for dangerousness whereas the low psychopathic group exhibited more positive personality traits and was judged to be at lower risk for dangerousness. Implications regarding potential developmental differences between adolescent and adult psychopathy, as well as treatment considerations are discussed.

Evaluation of the Sustainability and Clinical Outcome of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) in a Child Protection Center.

This paper examines the sustainability and outcome of Alternatives for Families: A Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (AF-CBT) as delivered by practitioners in a community-based child protection program who had received training in the model several years earlier. Formerly described as Abuse-Focused CBT, AF-CBT is an evidence-based treatment (EBT) for child physical abuse and family aggression/conflict that was included in the National Child Traumatic Stress Networks initial EBT dissemination efforts in 2002. Seven practitioners participated in a year-long learning collaborative in AF-CBT and in similar training programs for 4 other EBTs. The agencys routine data collection system was used to document the clinical and adjustment outcomes of 52 families presenting with a physically abused child who received their services between 2 and 5 years after the AF-CBT training had ended. Measures of the use of all 5 EBTs documented their frequency, internal consistency, and intercorrelations. Controlling for the unique content of the other four EBTs, the amount of AF-CBT Abuse-specific content delivered was related to improvements on standardized parent rating scales (i.e., child externalizing behavior, anger, anxiety, social competence) and both parent and clinician ratings of the childs adjustment at discharge (i.e., child more safe, less scared/sad, more appropriate with peers). The amount of AF-CBT General content was related to a few discharge ratings (better child prognosis, helpfulness to parents). These novel data provide suggestive evidence for the sustainability and clinical benefits of AF-CBT in an existing community clinic serving physically abused children and their families, and are discussed in the context of key developments in the treatment model and dissemination literature.

Cumulative Stress In Childhood is Associated with Blunted Reward-Related Brain Activity In Adulthood

Early life stress (ELS) is strongly associated with negative outcomes in adulthood, including reduced motivation and increased negative mood. The mechanisms mediating these relations, however, are poorly understood. We examined the relation between exposure to ELS and reward-related brain activity, which is known to predict motivation and mood, at age 26, in a sample followed since kindergarten with annual assessments. Using functional neuroimaging, we assayed individual differences in the activity of the ventral striatum (VS) during the processing of monetary rewards associated with a simple card-guessing task, in a sample of 72 male participants. We examined associations between a cumulative measure of ELS exposure and VS activity in adulthood. We found that greater levels of cumulative stress during childhood and adolescence predicted lower reward-related VS activity in adulthood. Extending this general developmental pattern, we found that exposure to stress early in development (between kindergarten and grade 3) was significantly associated with variability in adult VS activity. Our results provide an important demonstration that cumulative life stress, especially during this childhood period, is associated with blunted reward-related VS activity in adulthood. These differences suggest neurobiological pathways through which a history of ELS may contribute to reduced motivation and increased negative mood.

Testosterone Reactivity to Provocation Mediates the Effect of Early Intervention on Aggressive Behavior

We tested the hypotheses that the Fast Track intervention program for high-risk children would reduce adult aggressive behavior and that this effect would be mediated by decreased testosterone responses to social provocation. Participants were a subsample of males from the full trial sample, who during kindergarten had been randomly assigned to the 10-year Fast Track intervention or to a control group. The Fast Track program attempted to develop children’s social competencies through child social-cognitive and emotional-coping skills training, peer-relations coaching, academic tutoring, and classroom management, as well as training for parents to manage their child’s behavior. At a mean age of 26 years, participants responded to laboratory provocations. Results indicated that, relative to control participants, men assigned to the intervention demonstrated reduced aggression and testosterone reactivity to social provocations. Moreover, reduced testosterone reactivity mediated the effect of intervention on aggressive behavior, which provides evidence for an enduring biological mechanism underlying the effect of early psychosocial intervention on aggressive behavior in adulthood.

A Longitudinal Examination of Serious Adolescent Offenders' Perceptions of Chances for Success and Engagement in Behaviors Accomplishing Goals

We examined antisocial adolescents’ perceptions of the importance of and their ability to accomplish positive life outcomes (e.g., employment) and avoid negative ones (e.g., arrests) during their transition from adolescence to young adulthood. Participants were 1,354 adolescents from the Pathways to Desistance project, a multisite longitudinal study of seriously antisocial adolescents. Participants’ perceptions of the importance and likelihood of accomplishing positive adult goals at one age uniquely predicted how often they engaged in behaviors that were consistent with these goals the following year. Our findings suggest that among serious adolescent offenders aspirations to achieve positive goals are related to engaging in behaviors that bring adolescents’ current selves more in line with their aspired-to future selves. We discuss the implications of these findings for prevention and intervention efforts.

Best Practices for Using Median Splits, Artificial Categorization, and their Continuous Alternatives

Methodologists have long discussed the costs and benefits of using medians or other cut points to artificially turn continuous variables into categorical variables. The current paper attempts to provide a perspective on this literature that will be of practical use to experimental psychopathologists. After discussing the reasons that clinical researchers might use artificial categorization, we summarize the arguments both for and against this procedure. We then provide a number of specific suggestions related to the use of artificial categorization, including our thoughts on when researchers should use artificial categories, how their use can be justified, what continuous alternatives are available, and how the continuous alternatives should be used.

Measurement Invariance and Convergent Validity of Anger and Sadness Self-Regulation Among Youth From Six Cultural Groups

The present study examined measurement invariance and convergent validity of a novel vignette-based measure of emotion-specific self-regulation that simultaneously assesses attributional bias, emotion-regulation, and self-efficacy beliefs about emotion regulation. Participants included 541 youth–mother dyads from three countries (Italy, the United States, and Colombia) and six ethnic/cultural groups. Participants were 12.62 years old (SD = 0.69). In response to vignettes involving ambiguous peer interactions, children reported their hostile/depressive attribution bias, self-efficacy beliefs about anger and sadness regulation, and anger/sadness regulation strategies (i.e., dysregulated expression and rumination). Across the six cultural groups, anger and sadness self-regulation subscales had full metric and partial scalar invariance for a one-factor model, with some exceptions. We found support for both a four- and three-factor oblique model (dysregulated expression and rumination loaded on a second-order factor) for both anger and sadness. Anger subscales were related to externalizing problems, while sadness subscales were related to internalizing symptoms.