What to Do About Adolescent Psychopathy? Commentary on Dawson et al.

Abstract

Dawson et al. tackle the controversial issue of assessing psychopathic personality disorder in children and adolescents. They use two case studies assessed with the CAPP and the PCL:YV to suggest that 1) symptoms of psychopathy look different in youth than in adults, and 2) the CAPP may be a better assessment tool for youth than the PCL:YV. They also suggest youth psychopathy researchers conduct studies using the CAPP and PCL:YV together to examine more distinctive features of psychopathy in youth. I agree with the authors’ conclusions in part. The CAPP is a very promising tool for the assessment of psychopathic personality. I would add several caveats, however, including the limited evidence for the CAPP's construct validity (currently) and unanswered questions about its developmental appropriateness. The potential advantages to research with the CAPP may include 1) aiding our understanding of developmental changes in symptoms, and 2) further exploration of the variants of psychopathy. However, until the CAPP establishes construct validity and developmental applicability, I suggest any future studies include the PCL:YV/PCL-R, known psychopathy correlates, and compare youth to adult samples.