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Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)

Chapter · January 2016

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1102-1

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Psychopathy Checklist: Youth
Version (PCL:YV)
Kristopher Brazil and Adelle Forth
Department of Psychology, Carleton University,
Ottawa, ON, Canada
Synonyms
Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version;
PCL:YV; Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version
Definition
An assessment instrument designed for youth
ages 12–18 for the assessment of psychopathic
traits and behaviors underlying the construct of
psychopathy
Introduction
The Hare Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version
(PCL:YV; Forth et al. 2003) is an assessment
instrument designed to assess psychopathic traits
and behaviors in youth ages 12–18. It was adapted
from the Hare Psychopathy Checklist-Revised
(PCL-R), a well validated, reliable, and exten-
sively used assessment instrument for assessing
psychopathic traits in adults. The purpose of the
PCL:YV is to provide a reliable measurement of
# Springer International Publishing AG 2016
V. Zeigler-Hill, T.K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences,
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_1102-1
the psychopathy construct in youth to enable an
understanding of early precursors to adult psy-
chopathy, identify potential risk and resilience
factors, and promote research that can enable cir-
cumvention of problematic behaviors through
effective treatment. This entry describes the con-
tent and structure of the PCL:YV, how it is admin-
istered and scored, and its psychometric
properties. Finally, a brief summary of research
using the PCL:YV is explored to illustrate its
validity and associated features.
Content and Structure of the PCL:YV
The PCL:YV consists of 20 items that describe
traits and behaviors underlying the construct of
psychopathy. Some items assess psychological
traits that identify callous and unemotional dispo-
sitions as well as manipulative and deceitful per-
sonality styles. Other items include behavioral
traits that indicate risky, violent, and criminal
activities. Factor analysis has produced a four-
factor solution where each item contributes to
one of four factors except for two items, which
do not contribute to any factor. The four factors
can be thought of each as a cluster of psycholog-
ical and/or behavioral traits. Researchers and cli-
nicians often classify the interpersonal and
affective factors as the psychological features
and behavioral and antisocial factors as the behav-
ioral features of psychopathy. The interpersonal
and affective factors are also described as
2 Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
constituting the core personality features of psy-
chopathy. A three-factor solution (interpersonal,
affective, and behavioral factors) has also been
applied to the PCL:YV.
Administering the PCL:YV
The person administering the PCL:YV is often
called the rater. Administration typically occurs
in correctional, mental health, and research insti-
tutions. Individuals licensed to conduct psycho-
logical assessments with an advanced university
degree (e.g., M.D., M.A., Ph.D.) can administer
the PCL:YV for clinical purposes, whereas raters
in research settings are not required to be licensed
professionals. It is recommended the rater estab-
lishes their reliability through training before
using the PCL:YV for clinical purposes. Admin-
istering the PCL:YV involves a file review of the
youth’s record and a one-on-one interview. Some
research has found that file-only assessments of
the PCL:YV have produced reliable and valid
results as well. The file review should contain
information from many sources (e.g., interper-
sonal relationships, police, parents, etc.) and
include information from many contexts of the
youth’s life (e.g., home, school, institution, etc.).
The file review provides context to guide the
interview and enables the rater to formulate ques-
tions to ask the youth. The interview is semi-
structured in order to establish rapport and to
permit the youth’s interpersonal style to be
expressed. Keeping detailed notes or recording
the interview enables the rater to return to it for
information when scoring items. A typical inter-
view will last approximately 90–120 min.
Scoring the PCL:YV
Each item is scored on a three-point ordinal scale
from 0 to 2. A score of 0 indicates that the trait is
not present from the evidence gathered about the
youth. A score of 1 indicates there is some indi-
cation or mixed evidence of the trait being present
in the youth. Finally, a score of 2 indicates the trait
is definitely present and in many areas of the
youth’s life. Specific definitions of each item as
well as where and how to obtain information to
score each item are described in the manual (Forth
et al. 2003).
The total score is the sum of scores from all the
items, making a possible range from 0 to 40, with
a score closer to 40 indicating more psychopathic
features suggested in the youth. Factor scores are
calculated by summing the items that contribute to
each factor, resulting in a range of 0–8 for the
interpersonal and affective factors and 0–10 for
the behavioral and antisocial factors. Researchers
will often implement cutoff total scores (e.g.,
25 or 30) for research studies with youth scoring
above the cutoff being placed in the psychopathic
traits group and youth scoring below it being
placed in the non-psychopathic traits group. Cli-
nicians may also adopt a clinically significant
cutoff total score where scores above the cutoff
warrants further clinical attention for treatment of
psychopathy. The PCL:YV designers discuss sev-
eral issues with clinical cutoff scores and other
potential issues to consider when assessing youth
for psychopathic traits. These are shown in
Table 1.
Psychometric Properties and Prevalence
The comparison sample of the PCL:YV consists
of 2438 youth from Canada, the United States,
and the United Kingdom from institutionalized,
probation, psychiatric inpatient, and community
settings (Forth et al. 2003). Percentile and T-score
tables are available for each setting and gender.
The PCL:YV has strong psychometric proper-
ties. The interrater reliability of PCL:YV total
scores is high within research settings (single-
rater intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of
0.90–0.96). However, it is not clear if the same
interrater reliability is evident within real-world
contexts. The internal consistency of PCL:YV
total scores is also high, with Cronbach’s alpha
coefficients ranging from 0.85 to 0.94. The factor
scores have more variable reliabilities, with
interrater reliability ranging from acceptable to
excellent (0.70–0.90) and internal consistency
Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) 3

Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV), Table 1 Unique concerns when assessing youth for psychopathic
traits and recommendations for assessors when scoring the PCL:YV
Concern
Labeling Cutoff score to label a youth
“psychopath” is
problematic
Non- Norms and averages of
normative psychological and
behavioral traits are
different in youth compared
to adults
Age Youth have different goals,
appropriate motivations, and
responsibilities than adults
Stable Transitory problems in a
characteristics youth’s life may have undue
influence on their score
Multiple One or a few sources may
sources provide perspectives that
have an undue influence on
the youth’s score
Example
Influence access to treatments,
institutional programming, and
parole
Risk-taking behaviors are more
common in youth than adults (see
Ellis et al. 2012)
Youth are not expected to have an
extensive work history or
dependents, and they have
different emotional and social
concerns than adults
Youth whose parents are going
through a divorce may be acting
more antisocial since the divorce
A teacher reports presence of
bullying and antisocial behaviors
against others in the class, but a
coach reports prosocial acts
Recommendation
No score should be taken as
evidence that the youth is a
“psychopath,” no matter how
high a score
Consider youth populations’
norms and averages when
assessing youth for
psychopathic traits
Items should be considered in
light of youth’s age-appropriate
goals, motivations, and
responsibilities
Consider a broad age range
(early childhood to present) and
consider many contexts in the
youth’s life (e.g., home, school,
etc.)
Items are scored based on many
sources. These may include
parents, teachers, friends, parole
officers, coaches, and mental
health and criminal records

ranging from questionable to excellent
(0.22–0.86).
PCL:YV total scores do not appear to be
unduly influenced by youths’ age, gender, or eth-
nicity. Boys consistently have higher scores than
girls, which mimics the adult literature. Some
studies examining the predictive validity of the
PCL:YV have found less consistent findings with
girls, suggesting caution be exercised when using
the PCL:YV as a risk assessment for girls. Across
ethnicity, the comparison sample shows compara-
ble interrater reliability and internal consistency,
which has been replicated in research studies
using different ethnicities. Cross-validation of
the PCL:YV has been conducted on youth from
other countries, including Portugal, where PCL:
YV total scores have a lower but acceptable inter-
nal consistency compared to other samples
(Pechorro et al. 2015).
The prevalence of high-scoring youth on the
PCL:YV varies depending on the setting and
cutoff score used. Estimates of total prevalence
across the sexes vary from approximately
10–30% in incarcerated samples with a higher
prevalence for boys specifically. Lower estimates
are present in youth from clinical and community
samples, where prevalence is typically below 1%,
similar to the adult population. The stability of
PCL:YV total scores has been assessed in at
least one study, showing that PCL:YV total scores
were largely stable after a 1- and 2-year follow-up
period (Kimonis et al. 2011). The direct associa-
tion between PCL:YV scores and PCL-R scores
has not been examined, but a number of validation
studies and associated features of the PCL:YV
suggest that it demonstrates similar results in
youth as the PCL-R does in adults.
4 Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)

Research Using the PCL:YV: Validation differences on tasks, emotional and social pro-
and Associated Features cessing differences, and intelligence differences.
The behavioral features are often associated with
A reliable finding in forensic research examining criminal recidivism, history of abuse, and mental
juvenile criminal recidivism is that youth with health issues such as conduct disorder, anxiety,
higher PCL:YV scores tend to be repeat offenders and substance use. The PCL:YV has also been
(Forth et al. 2003). However, it has been shown to used to predict personality disorders. Interper-
predict short-term recidivism more strongly than sonal and antisocial factors assessed in adoles-
it does long-term recidivism into adulthood. This cence were shown to predict antisocial
finding suggests youth with psychopathic traits personality disorder symptoms 5 years later in
may be more amenable to changing the course of addition to conduct disorder symptoms
their offending behaviors as they transition into (Hemphälä and Hodgins 2014). These findings
adulthood. Despite this, the PCL:YV provides have led researchers to continue examining differ-
incremental validity of recidivism beyond other ential effects of the PCL:YV factors on different
risk assessment instruments, making it a valuable outcomes in addition to examining the PCL:YV
measurement to detect serious repeat offenders total score.
(Forth et al. 2016). Meta-analytic studies show
the PCL:YV has moderate effect sizes in pre-
dicting institutional misconduct and both general
Conclusion
and violent recidivism. These effects did not differ
from the PCL-R findings with adults, suggesting
Psychopathy is a socially disruptive and often
convergent validity between the measures
harmful personality style that warrants careful
(Leistico et al. 2008). Other research has found
and systematic study to begin circumventing the
the PCL:YV to be positively associated with more
problematic behaviors associated with its
severe victim injury and the use of instrumental
development. The PCL:YV is a reliable and
violence (violence used to obtain a goal), while
well-validated assessment tool that enables
higher PCL:YV scores have been found in juve-
researching this difficult personality style before
nile sex offenders compared to juvenile non-sex
adulthood. Its factor structure and use has demon-
offenders (Cale et al. 2015).
strated similar findings between youth and adult
PCL:YV scores have also been associated with
psychopathy using the PCL-R, suggesting that it
biological features. PCL:YV interpersonal factor
captures a similar construct in youth as it does in
scores may be related to different hormonal cou-
adulthood. Research using the PCL:YV identifies
pling patterns (Johnson et al. 2014), and para-
general characteristics as well as problems and
limbic brain areas have shown to be a reliable
skills in youth with psychopathic traits. These
biomarker for both youth scoring high on the
findings can be used by clinicians and researchers
PCL:YV and adults scoring high on the PCL-R,
to work with, instead of against, the manifesta-
suggesting a common anatomical pathway
tions of psychopathic traits in youth to develop
between youth and adult psychopathy (Walters
more effective treatment programs (see Ellis
et al. 2015). Other research has used the PCL:
et al. 2012).
YV to examine genetic and environmental influ-
ences of youth psychopathy in community sam-
ples, providing some evidence for the heritability
of psychopathic traits (Tuvblad et al. 2014). Cross-References
The psychological and behavioral features of
the PCL:YV are often each found to be associated ▶ Psychopathy
with different findings. The psychological fea- ▶ Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R)
tures, often described as the core personality fea-
tures, have been associated with neurocognitive
Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV)
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