Psychometric Properties of the Original and Short Form of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in Detained Female Adolescents

Olivier F Colins; Henrik Andershed; Samuel W Hawes; Patricia Bijttebier; Dustin A Pardini

doi:10.1007/s10578-015-0601-8

Psychometric Properties of the Original and Short Form of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in Detained Female Adolescents

Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. 2016 Oct;47(5):679-90. doi: 10.1007/s10578-015-0601-8.

Authors

Olivier F Colins^{1

2}, Henrik Andershed³, Samuel W Hawes⁴, Patricia Bijttebier⁵, Dustin A Pardini⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium-Leiden University Medical Center, Endegeesterstraatweg 27, 2342 AK, Oegstgeest, Leiden, The Netherlands. o.colins@curium.nl.
² School of Law, Psychiatry, and Social Work, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden. o.colins@curium.nl.
³ School of Law, Psychiatry, and Social Work, Örebro University, Örebro, Sweden.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
⁵ Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.

Abstract

This study examines the psychometric properties of the self-report version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in 191 detained female adolescents (M = 15.76, SD = 1.02). Evidence supporting the validity of the ICU scores was generally weak, largely due to poor functioning of the Unemotional subscale. Results from confirmatory factor analyses demonstrated support for a recently proposed shortened version of the ICU consisting of two subscales (Callousness and Uncaring). Both subscales showed acceptable to good internal consistency. This short-form version also improved criterion validity, though some issues regarding its convergent validity need further consideration. In conclusion, this study suggests that a short-form version of the ICU that includes a subset of the original items may hold promise as an efficient and valid method for assessing CU traits.

Keywords: Antisocial; Callous; Female delinquents; Forensic; Psychometric.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Antisocial Personality Disorder* / diagnosis
Antisocial Personality Disorder* / psychology
Emotions*
Factor Analysis, Statistical
Female
Forensic Psychiatry / methods
Humans
Juvenile Delinquency / psychology*
Personality Inventory*
Psychometrics*
Reproducibility of Results
Self Report