Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective
Abstract Background Childhood maltreatment stands as a salient risk factor in the etiology of juvenile delinquency, with a profound impact on the behavioral trajectories of young offenders. However, there is limited research on latent profile analysis to explore distinctive patterns of childhood mal...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2024-03-01
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| Series: | BMC Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01634-8 |
| _version_ | 1797266589392830464 |
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| author | Yuanhua Yang Jie Yu Suxian Zhang Qing Xie |
| author_facet | Yuanhua Yang Jie Yu Suxian Zhang Qing Xie |
| author_sort | Yuanhua Yang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Childhood maltreatment stands as a salient risk factor in the etiology of juvenile delinquency, with a profound impact on the behavioral trajectories of young offenders. However, there is limited research on latent profile analysis to explore distinctive patterns of childhood maltreatment in Chinese juvenile offenders. Consequently, there is a lack of understanding regarding the associations between maltreatment profiles and relevant variables in this context. The present study aimed to explore meaningful subgroups of childhood maltreatment in juvenile offenders, and we further examined the associations between subgroups and multiple outcomes especially psychopathy. Methods The data was obtained from a sample of Chinese juvenile offenders (N = 625, M age = 17.22, SD = 1.23). This study employed a latent profile analysis (LPA) based on factor scores of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form to identify the subgroups and examined the differences across subgroups using outcomes variables including psychopathy, callous-unemotional traits, aggression and anxiety. This study includes three self-report measures to evaluate psychopathy, with due regard for the nuanced considerations on the factor structure inherent in the conceptualization of psychopathy. Results Two subgroups were identified, including the non-maltreatment subgroup (80.2%) and the maltreatment subgroup (19.8%). Maltreatment subgroup was characterized by a greater level of all types of maltreatment with particularly higher of emotion neglect. Besides, we found that maltreatment subgroup showed a significantly higher level of psychopathy across multiple self-report measures, and greater callous-unemotional traits, lack of empathy, aggression and anxiety. We found two subgroups of child maltreatment in Chinese juvenile offenders. Conclusions These findings may provide a further understanding of childhood maltreatment and the clinical intervention on psychopathy in the early period. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-25T01:03:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c008f593592e421995931fad7bb06c52 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-7283 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-25T01:03:06Z |
| publishDate | 2024-03-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMC Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-c008f593592e421995931fad7bb06c522024-03-10T12:24:39ZengBMCBMC Psychology2050-72832024-03-0112111010.1186/s40359-024-01634-8Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspectiveYuanhua Yang0Jie Yu1Suxian Zhang2Qing Xie3Department of Management, Hunan Police AcademyMental Health Education and Consulting Center, Hunan Normal UniversityDepartment of Management, Hunan Police AcademyDepartment of Management, Hunan Police AcademyAbstract Background Childhood maltreatment stands as a salient risk factor in the etiology of juvenile delinquency, with a profound impact on the behavioral trajectories of young offenders. However, there is limited research on latent profile analysis to explore distinctive patterns of childhood maltreatment in Chinese juvenile offenders. Consequently, there is a lack of understanding regarding the associations between maltreatment profiles and relevant variables in this context. The present study aimed to explore meaningful subgroups of childhood maltreatment in juvenile offenders, and we further examined the associations between subgroups and multiple outcomes especially psychopathy. Methods The data was obtained from a sample of Chinese juvenile offenders (N = 625, M age = 17.22, SD = 1.23). This study employed a latent profile analysis (LPA) based on factor scores of the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form to identify the subgroups and examined the differences across subgroups using outcomes variables including psychopathy, callous-unemotional traits, aggression and anxiety. This study includes three self-report measures to evaluate psychopathy, with due regard for the nuanced considerations on the factor structure inherent in the conceptualization of psychopathy. Results Two subgroups were identified, including the non-maltreatment subgroup (80.2%) and the maltreatment subgroup (19.8%). Maltreatment subgroup was characterized by a greater level of all types of maltreatment with particularly higher of emotion neglect. Besides, we found that maltreatment subgroup showed a significantly higher level of psychopathy across multiple self-report measures, and greater callous-unemotional traits, lack of empathy, aggression and anxiety. We found two subgroups of child maltreatment in Chinese juvenile offenders. Conclusions These findings may provide a further understanding of childhood maltreatment and the clinical intervention on psychopathy in the early period.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01634-8Childhood maltreatmentLatent Profile AnalysisChinese juvenile offendersPsychopathy |
| spellingShingle | Yuanhua Yang Jie Yu Suxian Zhang Qing Xie Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective BMC Psychology Childhood maltreatment Latent Profile Analysis Chinese juvenile offenders Psychopathy |
| title | Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective |
| title_full | Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective |
| title_fullStr | Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective |
| title_short | Childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in Chinese juvenile offenders: person-centered perspective |
| title_sort | childhood maltreatment and psychopathy in chinese juvenile offenders person centered perspective |
| topic | Childhood maltreatment Latent Profile Analysis Chinese juvenile offenders Psychopathy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01634-8 |
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