Psychopathic personality features and risks for criminal justice system involvement among emancipating foster youth

Although there has been a surge of interest in the study of psychopathy among juveniles, few investigations have been initiated on non-correctional samples thus reducing the potential generalizability of findings. The current objective was to examine the construct of psychopathy in a community sample of 404 foster care youths transitioning out of care. To our knowledge, this is the first study to explore psychopathic personality traits among a foster care sample. In total, the models indicated that psychopathic personality traits measured by the PPI-SF Narcissism, PPI-SF Extraversion, PPI-SF Unemotionality, and PPI-SF Fearless-Nonconformity were significant yet inconsistent risk factors for diverse forms of criminal behavior and Subsequent involvement with the criminal justice system. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.