Application of the MACI Psychopathy Content Scale (P-16) in an Adolescent Inpatient Population: A Convergent Validity Study
Abstract
This study examined the construct validity of the embedded Psychopathy-16 (P-16) scale of the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI; Millon, 1993) in an archival sample of 811 adolescent psychiatric inpatients. Comparison of the P-16 distribution with the Psychopathy Content Scale (PCS; Murrie & Cornell, 2000) indicated about 12.8 percent of the inpatient sample fell above the cut-off suggested by Murrie and Cornell (2002), suggesting that a cut-off of eight might produce an equivalent identification of 12.8 percent of adolescents in this group, indicating levels of psychopathy severe enough to warrant further assessment. Confirmatory and exploratory factor analysis indicated the presence of a three-factor solution, though the items were somewhat dissimilar from the three-factor model previously obtain. Concurrent validity exploration in one sample (N = 757) found that the P-16 scales and total score were significantly and moderately correlated with both the PAI-A Antisocial Scale and Aggressive Scale. However, correlations for the total P-16 score and all P-16 scales (callousness, egocentricity, antisocial behavior) were significantly more strongly correlated with PAI-A antisocial scores. Regression analysis with a subsample of adolescents (N = 79) who had also completed the adolescent version of the Firestone Assessment of Violent Thoughts (FAVT-A; Firestone & Firestone, 2008) revealed that although combinations of the P-16 scales predicted both Hostile Reactive and Instrumental Aggression, P-16 Callousness was the only significant independent predictor of FAVT-A Instrumental Aggression. Implications for assessment of psychopathic features in adolescent inpatients were discussed.
Subject Area
Clinical psychology|Psychology
Recommended Citation
Friedman, Rochelle J, "Application of the MACI Psychopathy Content Scale (P-16) in an Adolescent Inpatient Population: A Convergent Validity Study" (2020). ETD Collection for Pace University. AAI28595092.
https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/dissertations/AAI28595092
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