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Verbal ability and delinquency: testing the moderating role of psychopathic traits
Author(s) -
Muñoz Luna C.,
Frick Paul J.,
Kimonis Eva R.,
Aucoin Katherine J.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal of child psychology and psychiatry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.652
H-Index - 211
eISSN - 1469-7610
pISSN - 0021-9630
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2007.01847.x
Subject(s) - psychology , juvenile delinquency , psychopathy , developmental psychology , moderation , conduct disorder , poison control , clinical psychology , personality , social psychology , medicine , environmental health
Background: Impaired verbal abilities are one of the most consistent risk factors for serious antisocial and delinquent behavior. However, individuals with psychopathic traits often show serious antisocial behavior, despite showing no impairment in their verbal abilities. Thus, the aim of the current study was to examine whether psychopathy moderates the relationship between verbal abilities and delinquent behavior in a sample of detained youth. Methods: The sample included 100 detained adolescent boys who were assessed on self‐reported delinquent acts and psychopathic traits, as well as their age at first offense based on official records. Participants also completed a competitive computer task involving two levels of provocation, during which skin conductance was measured. A standard measure of receptive vocabulary was individually administered. Results: As predicted, there was a significant interaction between callous‐unemotional (CU) traits (a critical dimension of psychopathy) and verbal ability when predicting violent delinquency. Individuals who were high on CU traits with higher scores on the measure of verbal abilities reported the greatest violent delinquency. These individuals also showed the lowest level of skin conductance reactivity during the provocation task. Conclusions: The results suggest CU traits are an important moderator of the relation between verbal abilities and violent delinquency.