Psychometric Properties of the Original and Shortened Version of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory among Chinese Adolescents

The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and its short version (YPI-S) in a sample of 2081 Chinese 11- to 19-year-old school-attending youth (M _age = 14.27, SD = 1.62). Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a bifactor model best fit the data at the subscale level for the YPI and at the item level for the YPI-S. The internal consistency of the YPI and YPI-S scores ranged from marginal to good. Measurement invariance testing revealed that the bifactor model of the YPI-S was equivalent across gender, while the bifactor model of the YPI showed moderate differences between boys and girls. Both the YPI and YPI-S total and factor scores were positively related to Antisocial Process Screening Device scores and Rule-Breaking and Aggressive behavior, though these relations were most often stronger for the YPI scores. In conclusion, the Chinese-language versions of the YPI and YPI-S hold promise as assessment tools to measure psychopathic traits in Chinese adolescents but are not without limitations. Whereas the YPI-S is more time-effective and yields scores that are more internally consistent than the YPI, the YPI seems to outperform the YPI-S in terms of convergent and criterion validity.