Early Antisocial Markers and Attachment Styles

99 Pages·2012·3.02 MB·English

by  Richelle Isaak

Early Antisocial Markers and Attachment Styles:
Their Influence on Psychopathic Characteristics
in High-Risk Boys and Girls
by
Richelle Isaak
B.A., University of the Fraser Valley, 2010
Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree of
Master of Arts
in the
Department of Criminology
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
© Richelle Isaak 2012
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Spring 2012
All rights reserved.
However, in accordance with the Copyright Act of Canada, this work may
be reproduced, without authorization, under the conditions for
“Fair Dealing.” Therefore, limited reproduction of this work for the
purposes of private study, research, criticism, review and news reporting
is likely to be in accordance with the law, particularly if cited appropriately.
Approval
Name: Richelle Isaak
Degree: Master of Arts
Title of Thesis: Early Antisocial Markers and Attachment Styles:
Their Influence on Psychopathic Characteristics in
High-Risk Boys and Girls
Examining Committee:
Chair: Dr. Bryan Kinney, Associate Professor
Dr. Raymond R. Corrado
Senior Supervisor
Professor, Criminology Department
Dr. Marlene M. Moretti
Committee Member
Professor, Psychology Department
Dr. Ronald Roesch
External Examiner
Professor, Psychology Department

Date Defended/Approved: April 19th, 2012
ii
Partial Copyright Licence

iii
Abstract
While the relationship between attachment as a general construct (i.e., closeness to
caregivers) and psychopathy has been partially explored, few studies have investigated
attachment dimensions and either psychopathy as a general construct or its various
facets. The current study examined attachment anxiety versus attachment avoidance
within adolescent-mother relationships in relation to psychopathy in 80 high-risk
adolescents (30 females). The moderating role of conduct disorder (CD) onset regarding
attachment dimensions and psychopathy also was assessed because of its importance
in predicting and explaining multiple negative life outcomes. Regression analyses
revealed a significant interaction between childhood-onset CD and attachment
avoidance in relation to the affective facet, but not to the interpersonal and behavioural
facets of psychopathy. Further, exploratory analyses, as predicted, confirmed that there
was a likely gender difference regarding CD in its relationship to attachment and
psychopathy. These findings support the differential importance of psychopathy facets
when assessing attachment.
Keywords: Psychopathy; adolescence; attachment dimensions; forensic; clinical;
conduct disorder onset
iv
Acknowledgements
First off, many thanks to my senior supervisor, Dr. Raymond Corrado, and also to Dr.
Marlene Moretti for their guidance and feedback throughout my M.A. My thanks also
goes to Dr. Jodi Viljoen and the Mental Health and Youth Justice Lab for their support
and encouragement. A special thanks to the Adolescent Health Laboratory – your
continuous feedback and support made a huge difference. I would also like to thank all
of the graduate students and research assistants involved in data collection for the
Gender and Aggression Project.
To my friends, thank you for your love and support, especially Jacqueline Taylor, Isi
Krebs, and Gratianne Daum. Also, a special thanks to those who took the time to review
my thesis: Dr. Nicole Catherine, Jeff Mathesius, and Dr. Wayne Podrouzek. I would like
to thank my family for their never-ending love and encouragement throughout my
studies. Lastly, my utmost thanks goes to Julia Isaak – “it’s a beautiful life.”
Funding for this study was provided by the Social Science and Humanities Research
Council of Canada (SSHRC) and a Graduate Fellowship Scholarship awarded to the
author.
.
v
Table of Contents
Approval ............................................................................................................................. ii 
Partial Copyright Licence .................................................................................................. iii 
Abstract ............................................................................................................................. iv 
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ v 
Table of Contents .............................................................................................................. vi 
List of Tables ................................................................................................................... viii 
List of Figures .................................................................................................................... x 
List of Acronyms ............................................................................................................... xi 
1.  Introduction .............................................................................................................. 1 
1.1.  Psychopathy in Adolescents .................................................................................... 3 
1.1.1.  The Expression of Adolescent Psychopathy: Important Differences
from Adulthood ............................................................................................. 5 
1.1.1.1.  Anxiety and Psychopathy .............................................................. 6 
1.1.2.  The Applicability of Psychopathy in Females ............................................... 6 
1.1.3.  Predictive Validity of Psychopathy during Adolescence ............................... 7 
1.2.  The Importance of Developmental Distinctions ....................................................... 8 
1.2.1.  Separate Developmental Differences for Boys and Girls ........................... 10 
1.3.  Attachment Theory and Developmental Outcomes ............................................... 11 
1.3.1.  The Influence of Parenting in Emotional and Behavioural Regulation ....... 14 
1.4.  Attachment Theory and its Link to Psychopathy .................................................... 14 
1.4.1.  The Role of Attachment and Psychopathy ................................................. 18 
1.4.2.  Childhood-onset Conduct Disorder as a Potential Moderator of the
Relationship Between Attachment Avoidance and Psychopathy ............... 19 
1.5.  The Present Study ................................................................................................. 19 
1.5.1.  Hypotheses ................................................................................................ 20 
2.  Methods .................................................................................................................. 22 
2.1.  Overview ................................................................................................................ 22 
2.2.  Participants and Procedure .................................................................................... 22 
2.3.  Treatment of Missing Data and Sample Descriptives ............................................ 23 
2.4.  Measures ............................................................................................................... 26 
2.4.1.  Comprehensive Adolescent-Parent Attachment Inventory (CAPAI) .......... 26 
2.4.2.  Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version (PCL: YV) ..................................... 27 
2.4.2.1.  PCL: YV Mean Scores and Intercorrelations ............................... 28 
2.4.3.  The Diagnostic Inventory for Children and Adolescents-Revised
(DICA-R) .................................................................................................... 30 
2.5.  Analytical Procedure .............................................................................................. 31 
3.  Results .................................................................................................................... 32 
3.1.  Data Preparation .................................................................................................... 32 
3.2.  Gender Differences, Sample Contexts, and Other Study Comparisons ................ 33 
3.3.  Zero Order Correlations ......................................................................................... 35 
3.4.  Replications of Previous Findings .......................................................................... 36 
3.5.  Attachment, Conduct Disorder, and Psychopathy ................................................. 40 
vi
3.5.1.  Moderation Models ..................................................................................... 42 
3.5.1.1.  PCL:YV Factor 1 and Attachment Avoidance .............................. 43 
3.5.1.2.  PCL: YV Factor 2 and Attachment Avoidance ............................. 44 
3.5.1.3.  PCL: YV Factor 3 and Attachment Avoidance ............................. 46 
3.5.1.4.  PCL:YV Total and Attachment Avoidance ................................... 48 
3.5.2.  Exploratory Analyses .................................................................................. 49 
3.6.  Summary of Results ............................................................................................... 52 
4.  Discussion .............................................................................................................. 54 
4.1.  Attachment ............................................................................................................. 55 
4.2.  Psychopathic Characteristics ................................................................................. 56 
4.3.  The Relation of Onset and Psychopathy ............................................................... 57 
4.4.  The Relation of Attachment and Psychopathy ....................................................... 58 
4.5.  Role of Attachment Dimensions, Childhood-onset Conduct Disorder, and
Psychopathy .......................................................................................................... 61 
4.6.  Gender Differences in Childhood-onset Conduct Disorder and Psychopathy ....... 63 
4.7.  Limitations and Future Directions .......................................................................... 65 
5.  Conclusions ........................................................................................................... 68 
References ..................................................................................................................... 69 
Appendices .................................................................................................................... 82 
Appendix A.  Histograms ............................................................................................ 83 
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List of Tables
Table 1.   Cooke and Michie’s (2001) Model of Psychopathy ......................................... 4 
Table 2.  Complete Sample vs. Full Sample and Demographic Variables ................... 25 
Table 4.  Zero-Order Correlations between PCL: YV Factor Scores ............................ 29 
Table 5.  Zero-Order Correlations between PCL: YV Factor Scores in the
Subsample .................................................................................................... 30 
Table 6.  Variable Means and Standard Deviations by Gender .................................... 34 
Table 7.  Variable Means and Standard Deviations by Location .................................. 35 
Table 8.  Zero-order Correlations between Main Variables .......................................... 36 
Table 9.  Relationship between Psychopathy and Lifetime Conduct Disorder ............. 37 
Table 10.  Zero-order Correlations between PCL:YV Scores and Attachment for
Boys .............................................................................................................. 37 
Table 11.  Zero-order Correlations between PCL: YV Scores and Attachment for
Girls ............................................................................................................... 38 
Table 12.  Zero-order Correlations between PCL: YV Scores and Attachment for
Boys in Subsample ....................................................................................... 38 
Table 13.  Zero-order Correlations between PCL: YV Scores and Attachment for
Girls in Subsample ........................................................................................ 38 
Table 14.  PCL: YV Scores by Conduct Disorder for the Subsample ............................ 39 
Table 15.  PCL: YV Scores by Conduct Disorder and Gender for the Subsample ........ 40 
Table 16.  Relationship between Psychopathy and Attachment Avoidance .................. 41 
Table 17.  Relationship between Psychopathy and Attachment Anxiety ....................... 41 
Table 18.  Relationship between Psychopathy and Attachment Avoidance by
CD-onset ....................................................................................................... 41 
Table 19.  Zero-order Correlations between PCL: YV Scores and Attachment ............. 42 
Table 20.  Regression Examining the Relation between Attachment Avoidance,
Childhood-Onset Conduct Disorder, and PCL: YV Factor 1 Scores ............. 43 
viii
Table 21.  Regression Examining the Relation between Attachment Avoidance,
Childhood-Onset Conduct Disorder, and PCL: YV Factor 2 Scores ............. 45 
Table 22.  Regression Examining the Relation between Attachment Avoidance,
Childhood-Onset Conduct Disorder, and PCL: YV Factor 3 Scores ............. 47 
Table 23.  Regression Examining the Relation between Attachment Avoidance,
Childhood-Onset Conduct Disorder, and PCL: YV Total Scores .................. 49 
Table 24.  Relationship between Psychopathy and Attachment Avoidance in
Boys .............................................................................................................. 51 
Table 25.  Relationship between Psychopathy and Attachment Avoidance in
Girls ............................................................................................................... 52 
ix
List of Figures
Figure 1.  Relationship between Attachment Avoidance, Conduct Disorder, and
Psychopathy ................................................................................................. 42 
Figure 2.   Attachment Avoidance and Onset of Conduct Disorder in Relation to
PCL: YV Factor 1 Scores .............................................................................. 44 
Figure 3.   Moderation Effect – Attachment Avoidance and Onset of Conduct
Disorder in Relation to PCL: YV Factor 2 Scores ......................................... 46 
Figure 4.   Attachment Avoidance and Onset of Conduct Disorder in Relation to
PCL: YV Factor 3 Scores .............................................................................. 48 
Figure 5.  Attachment Avoidance and Onset of Conduct Disorder in Relation to
PCL: YV Total Scores ................................................................................... 49 
x