Linking Psychopathy and School Aggression in a Nonclinical Sample of Adolescents

Antisocial behavior and school aggression in youth has been linked with affective, interpersonal, self-attributional, and behavioral characteristics; these traits have often been associated with psychopathic behaviors among adults. Psychopathic traits were examined in nonclinically-referred youth exhibiting antisocial and aggressive behavior. Using the School Violence Inventory and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD), two participant roles (pure aggressors and aggressive victims) involved in school aggression were examined in a sample of middle and high school students (N = 3,981). A series of within and between-subjects analyses, followed by hierarchical regressions showed that different scales of the APSD, primarily the narcissism and impulsivity scales, were associated with aggression and that the aggressive victims' scores were highest on these measures; nonaggressors did not have elevated narcissism scores. Findings partially support the hypothesis that some psychopathy traits are related to the aggressor rather than the nonaggressor participant roles.