تروماسازی زودرس و اختلالات فکری و روانی در مجرمان نوجوان دختر و پسر

Childhood traumatization is expected to have a significant impact on the development of antisocial and aggressive behavior in adulthood. Psychopathy as a syndrome that can predict future violent and aggressive behavior in adults is therefore believed to be associated with early traumatization. The association between early childhood victimization and violence might at least be mediated through psychopathy. The present study examined the relationship between early emotional, physical or sexual trauma and neglect and psychopathy in incarcerated delinquent female and male juveniles using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ) and the Psychopathy Checklist—Youth Version (PCL-YV). A sample of detained adolescents (n = 185) was compared to adolescent students (n = 98). Also, gender differences were analyzed with respect to the association of trauma and psychopathy. As expected, our analyses revealed higher scores of traumatization in delinquent juveniles compared to school adolescents. Hypothesized relationships between physical traumatization and the PCL-YV total score could be confirmed among criminal boys, but not among delinquent girls. Results, therefore, indicated that an association exists between early physical, but also emotional traumatic experience and psychopathy in detained boys. In girls, however, other family-related variables, such as non-parental living arrangements, seemed to be more influential in developing the psychopathy syndrome than traumatization.

1.1. Trauma and psychopathy in delinquent juveniles In addition to adverse family conditions (Marmorstein & Iacono, 2005), early traumatization is commonly regarded as a causal or mediating risk factor for aggressive and violent behavior (Jaffee et al., 2004, Loeber and Stouthamer-Loeber, 1998, Maxfield and Widom, 1996 and Pollock, 1999). Different researchers argue that early traumatization has a negative influence on the development of the ability to regulate anger and affect (Erwin et al., 2000 and Novaco and Chemtob, 2002). The ability to control anger and affect enables low aggressiveness, while a deficit in that ability leads to heightened aggression. The syndrome of psychopathy is defined by such affective deficits, interpersonal deceptiveness, impulsive as well as antisocial tendencies (Forth, Kosson, & Hare, 2003) and is highly predictive of aggressive and violent behavior in adulthood (Hare, 1991 and Vincent et al., 1999). Although these theoretical aspects of aggression imply a relationship between early traumatic experiences and the syndrome of psychopathy, few studies have so far focused on this topic. The leading question for our study was whether in juvenile offenders childhood trauma is associated with the psychopathy syndrome, which is the extreme end within the spectrum of antisocial personality. One of the few studies addressing this topic was conducted in a Swedish longitudinal project that studied possible implications of childhood neglect and/or abuse on adult scores on the Psychopathy Checklist—Revised (PCL-R), (Hare, 1991) and violent offending (Lang, Klinteberg, Alm, 2002). The authors found that the high victimization subjects exhibited significantly more violence and had high PCL scores in adulthood. Weiler and Widom (1996) investigated the relationship among early childhood victimization, psychopathy and violence in a sample of previously abused and neglected young adults (N = 652) and a matched control group (N = 489). Victims of childhood abuse and/or neglect had significantly higher PCL-R scores than controls. Furthermore, victimization predicted official and self-reported violence. Based on their findings, the authors suggested that in some individuals the association between early childhood victimization and violence might be mediated through psychopathy. Similarly, Bernstein, Stein, and Handelsman (1998) revealed in a substance-abusing population (n = 339) that physical abuse and physical neglect were related to a sub-cluster of “psychopathic” personality disorders consisting of childhood and adult sadistic and antisocial personality traits. In adolescents, Campbell, Porter, and Santor (2004) evaluated the clinical, psychosocial and criminal correlates of psychopathic traits in a sample of 226 male and female incarcerated juvenile offenders, using the Psychopathy Checklist—Youth Version (PCL-YV, Forth et al., 2003). They showed that while higher PCL-YV scores were associated with having experienced physical abuse, the only psychosocial factor to predict PCL-YV scores was a history of non-parental living arrangements (e.g. foster care). Marshall and Cooke (1999) found in their study comparing childhood experiences of criminal adult psychopaths with non-psychopaths that childhood familial and societal experiences were strongly correlated with PCL-R scores and influenced the adult outcomes. Forth et al. (2003) provided a summary of findings from unpublished doctoral dissertations on the linkage between victimization and psychopathy in adolescents. They documented an association between childhood victimization and PCL-YV scores ( O´Neill, 2001 and McBride, 1998). 1.2. Gender aspects As for gender differences, a variety of studies have reported a heightened prevalence of traumatization in female delinquent juveniles compared to males (Abram et al., 2004, Cauffman et al., 1998 and Dixon et al., 2004). In girls, victimization is considered an essential risk factor for aggressive behavior (Chamberlain & Moore, 2002). Only recently has the psychopathy construct been explicitly applied to women and adolescent girls (Forth et al., 1996, Salekin et al., 1997 and Vitale and Newman, 2001). To our knowledge, the only study focusing on the relationship between violence, traumatization and psychopathy in delinquent girls was conducted by Odgers, Reppucci, and Moretti (2005). They found a strong association between trauma and aggression and between psychopathy and aggression, but once victimization was entered into a regression model, the relationship between psychopathy and aggression was no longer significant. Odgers and co-workers argued that in girls the psychopathy syndrome is not yet sufficiently disentangled to understand the complex relationship between trauma and aggression. 1.3. Psychopathy factors Over the past several years defining and measuring the concept of youth psychopathy has gained importance, especially as it relates to the understanding of persistently violent youthful offenders. Recent work provided some preliminary evidence that psychopathy has a similar factor structure in both adults and adolescents (Kosson, Cyterski, Steuerwald, Neumann, & Walker-Matthews, 2002). At present, rival factor structures for the psychopathy concept exist. The Hare 4-factor model (Hare et al., 1990) proposes that the construct of psychopathy can be best understood in terms of dimensions which reflect interactions with others (interpersonal factor, factor 1); emotions, or the absence thereof (affective factor 2); impulsive behavior (lifestyle, factor 3); and the specific kinds of antisocial tendencies (factor 4). In their 3-factor model, Cooke and Michie (2001) eliminated items that dealt specifically with criminal behavior and focused on the personality domains of the psychopathy syndrome. They argued that antisocial behavior should not be a defining feature of psychopathy, as it is a behavioral result of the disorder. The 4-factor model has also been replicated with the Psychopathy Checklist—Youth Version, as Table 1 shows (Forth et al., 2003 and Salekin et al., 2004). Table 1. The 4-factor model of the Psychopathy Checklist—Youth Version (PCL-YV) Forth et al. (2003); German Version Sevecke & Krischer (in press) Hare 4-factor model Interpersonal (I) Impression management (1) Lifestyle (III) Stimulation seeking (3) Grandiose sense of self-worth (2) Parasitic orientation (9) Pathological lying (4) Lacks goals (13) Manipulation for personal gain (5) Impulsivity (14) Irresponsibility (15) Affective (II) Lack of remorse (6) Antisocial (IV) Poor anger control (10) Shallow affect (7) Early behavior problems (12) Callous/lacking empathy (8) Serious criminal behavior (18) Failure to accept responsibility (16) Revocation of conditional release (19) Criminal versatility (20) Note: Item number in parentheses. Impersonal sexual behavior (11)⁎. Unstable interpersonal relationships (17) ⁎. ⁎ = PCL-YV-Items that were not included into the factor model. Table options 1.4. The current study The present study assessed trauma experiences in female and male juvenile detainees and explored the relationship between traumatization and psychopathy dimensions. We used the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, which measures five forms of trauma: emotional abuse; physical abuse; sexual abuse; physical neglect; and emotional neglect. Forth et al. (2003) developed a specific version of the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL) – The Psychopathy Checklist—Youth Version (PCL-YV) – identifying adolescents with psychopathic traits. Research supports the validity of the PCL-YV (Forth et al., 2003 and Vincent et al., 1999). The studies with the PCL-YV have shown that incarcerated adolescent males with high scores display more violent criminal behavior and more aggressiveness (Forth and Burke, 1998 and Gretton et al., 1994) compared to those with low scores. Judging from the scientific literature, we expected (1) a higher prevalence of traumatization in a sample of German delinquent adolescents than in a control group of non-detained juveniles, and (2) more traumatization, especially sexual abuse, among detained girls than among detained boys. Based on the available data (Bernstein et al., 1998 and Forth et al., 2003; Erwin et al., 2000), we hypothesized (3) that physical maltreatment and physical neglect were associated with the PCL-YV total score and with the PCL-YV Affective and Antisocial Factor 2 & 4, representing a lack of empathy and poor anger control. Moreover, we predicted (4) gender differences in these associations, expecting differing relationships between trauma and psychopathy in delinquent girls as compared to delinquent boys.