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Clinical change in psychopathic traits after the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP program: preliminary findings of a controlled trial with male detained youth

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Abstract

Objective

To assess the preliminary efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP in reducing psychopathic traits among male detained youth.

Method

In this controlled trial, a treatment group (n = 24) and a control group (n = 22) answered the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory-Short at baseline and post-treatment. Treatment participants attended the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP, in addition to the Treatment As Usual (TAU); controls only received TAU. The treatment effects were tested both at a group level (2 × 2 mixed ANOVA) and at an individual level (Reliable Change Index; RCI).

Results

ANOVAs showed medium to large effect sizes (η2p), while RCIs revealed strong to moderate effect sizes (Cramer’s V).

Conclusions

Despite the limitations, this study offered preliminary evidence for the efficacy of the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP, suggesting that interventions targeting psychopathic traits should be considered in the rehabilitation of detained youth, as the absence of tailored interventions may increase the levels of psychopathic traits and its associated risks.

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Notes

  1. Please note that there are several conceptualizations of psychopathic traits in youthful populations as well as several measurement tools attuned to the underpinning conceptualization. For a recent and in-depth discussion on this topic, see Salekin et al. (2018).

  2. These individual sessions are not structured and depend on the theoretical background of the psychologist as well as on his/her availability.

  3. Assumptions were checked prior to the analysis—no assumptions were violated; Shapiro-Wilk tests all p > .05; Levene’s tests—all p > .05

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Acknowledgments

The authors want to thank to all youth enrolled in this study and to the staff members of the detention facilities.

Funding

This research has been supported by the first author PhD Grant (SFRH/BD/99795/2014), sponsored by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). This work was also financed by FEDER—European Social Fund—through the COMPETE 2020–Operational Program for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) and by Portuguese funds through FCT in the framework of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016724.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Research in Neuropsychology and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Coimbra, Rua do Colégio Novo, 3001-802, Coimbra, Portugal

    Diana Ribeiro da Silva, Daniel Rijo, Marlene Paulo & Rita Miguel

  2. University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, USA

    Randall T. Salekin

  3. University of Derby, Derby, UK

    Paul Gilbert

Authors
  1. Diana Ribeiro da Silva
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  2. Daniel Rijo
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  3. Randall T. Salekin
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  4. Marlene Paulo
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  5. Rita Miguel
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  6. Paul Gilbert
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Diana Ribeiro da Silva.

Ethics declarations

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Coimbra, by the Portuguese Data Protection Authority, and by the Portuguese Ministry of Justice. Participants older than 18 years gave verbal and written consent for their own participation, and participants younger than 18 years verbally assented to their own participation in addition to their parents/legal guardians’ written consent.

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Ribeiro da Silva, D., Rijo, D., Salekin, R.T. et al. Clinical change in psychopathic traits after the PSYCHOPATHY.COMP program: preliminary findings of a controlled trial with male detained youth. J Exp Criminol 17, 397–421 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11292-020-09418-x

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