Factor structure and construct validity of the Self-Report Psychopathy (SRP) scale and the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) in young men

A large sample (N = 425) of young adult males from the Pittsburg Youth Study (PYS; Loeber, Farrington, Stouthamer-Loeber, & Van Kammen, 1998) was used to test the item-level structure of the short-form version of the Self-Report Psychopathy Scale (SRP; Paulhus, Neumann, & Hare, in press) and the standard version of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI; Andershed, Kerr, Stattin, & Levander, 2002). Also, structural equation modeling analyses examined how the SRP and YPI factors were linked to external correlates involving criminal offenses and internalizing and externalizing psychopathology. The modeling results indicated acceptable fit for the latent structure of both instruments and the SRP and YPI factor correlations were strong, particularly for conceptually-related scales. Finally, both instruments showed similar patterns in predicting externalizing and internalizing psychopathology, as well as criminal offenses. Taken together, the results provide evidence of convergent and construct validity across the two instruments. New insights into the link between psychopathy and the external correlates in young adult males are discussed.