Using psychopathic personality traits, testosterone and cortisol in predicting and preventing violent delinquency among delinquent male adolescents.
Summary
This study investigated if testosterone, with cortisol as a moderator, and psychopathic personality traits are a strong predictor for violent delinquency among delinquent adolescents. The sample consisted of 416 clinical delinquent male adolescents. Psychopathic personality traits and violent delinquency were measured with the YPI-s and the RPQ respectively. Testosterone and cortisol were measured with salivary samples. Results showed that testosterone with cortisol as a moderator did not have any predictive value, but psychopathic personality traits did have a strong predictive value. Future research should therefore focus less on the testosterone and delinquency relation among adolescents and shift the attention more towards psychopathic personality traits in order to develop interventions which can help reduce violent delinquency among adolescents.