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Brush, Lauren N.

Psychology

2014

Ph. D.

A lack of conscience is considered a hallmark feature of psychopathy. Current theoretical models linking impairments in conscience to the development of antisocial behavior and to psychopathy have been delineated, yet not fully tested in adolescent populations. The current study attempted to test these models by: 1) broadly comparing differences between detained and community adolescents on levels of psychopathic traits, conscience, and antisocial behavior (ASB), 2) examining the unique relations between the dimensions of psychopathy (i.e., callous-unemotional (CD) traits and impulse control problems (ICP)) and the components of conscience (i.e., moral affect, moral behavior, moral cognition), and 3) investigating associations between levels of ASB and impairments in conscience. To accomplish this, 85 youth (41 adjudicated) between the ages of 13 and 17 completed measures of conscience, psychopathic traits, and ASB.
After accounting for age, sex, and ethnicity, compared to community youth, adjudicated youth displayed significantly lower levels of moral affect and moral cognition and significantly higher levels of ASB, CD traits, and ICP. CD traits significantly predicted levels of moral affect and moral cognition, and CD traits moderated the relation between ICP and moral affect. Moral affect and both dimensions of psychopathy predicted ASB. Overall, findings suggest that the affective-interpersonal dimension of psychopathy plays a critical role in conscience development. Furthermore, impairment in the affective component of conscience and high levels of both dimensions of psychopathy appear to be related to the most severe levels of ASB. Findings suggest that deficits in moral affect should be targeted for treatment in psychopathic offender populations.