Adrian ROŞAN*1, Paul J. FRICK2, Katherine A. GOTTLIEB2,
& Loredana FAŞICARU1
1Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania
2University of New Orleans, USA
Abstract
In the current study, the cross-cultural generalizability of theories about different variants of psychopathy was tested in 125 detained male adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 years old. Participants were recruited from two juvenile detention facilities in Romania situated in two different regions of the country. The results of the current study suggest that detained adolescents with high rates of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and high levels of anxiety/depression scored higher on measures of impulsivity, aggression and adjustment associated with emotional dysregulation than groups high on CU traits only or groups low on both CU and anxiety/depression. Also, the only measure in which the group high on CU traits but low on anxiety differed from those low on both dimensions was in showing higher levels of proactive relational aggression. The implications of these findings for the cross-cultural generalizability of theories of primary and secondary psychopathy and for the designating groups of detained adolescents with significant mental health needs are discussed.
Keywords: callous unemotional, anxiety, detained adolescents
