Reliability and validity of the psychopathy checklist: Youth version in a UK sample of conduct disordered boys

The Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL:YV) has been devised for use with adolescents. Although this measure has been validated in Canadian and US samples there are few reports on its validity in UK samples. We examined the validity of the PCL:YV in 115 adolescent males in secure care and young offender institutions. We found high reliability ratings. As predicted the PCL:YV correlated with indices of antisocial behaviour, and externalising pathology on the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL). The PCL:YV was a modest predictor of institutional violence and rule breaking behaviour at 3 month follow-up. The current findings support previous research that suggests that psychopathy is a construct that has reasonably consistent external correlates in juveniles and adults.