[The psychopathy-concept and its psychometric evaluation in childhood, adolescence and adulthood]

The psychopathy concept in accordance with Robert Hare was operationalized in 1985 when the revised form of the Psychopathy Checklist (PCL-R) was published. Since then, the PCL-R has been used internationally in prognosis and therapy research. In North America, personality traits of psychopathy have also been studied in children and juveniles for several years by now. On the basis of the PCL-R, a checklist for adolescents (PCL-YV) was developed that takes the special conditions of adolescents into account. In juveniles with a high score research with the PCL-YV demonstrated a lack of empathy, impulsivity and social adjustment disorder. Furthermore, researchers found associations between the number and severity of violent offences, early drug abuse and earlier recidivism, i. e. repeated criminality. The biological determinants of these dimensions are discussed as well as associated questions about recent specific therapy concepts and diagnostic aspects of psychopathy in juveniles.