Method for Study 2

3.4.1.1. Participants

A community sample of Year 9 adolescents (N=97, 54 females, M= 13.42 years, age range 13-15) was recruited from four British state secondary schools. Participants were recruited via two separate routes: Families were contacted through (i) schools directly; and (ii) the University of Nottingham School of Psychology Human Development and Learning (HDL) database, seeking consent from the parents and assent from the adolescents to take part in this study.

(i) School procedure: 12 Nottingham schools and 83 schools across England and Wales were

contacted via e-mail with information about the study and asked for their assistance to contact parents of adolescents. For local schools, according to schools’ preferences they were sent parent/adolescent information sheets to be forwarded via email or letter to the parents. The study was also introduced to one local school via a school assembly where parent contact details were retrieved. These parents were sent information packs via e-mail or letter to their home directly. All parents and adolescents who agreed to take part

required the parents to give consent online via a link sent in the e-mail/letter. Once consent was given, a second e-mail was sent with the link to access the online questionnaires (using Survey-Monkey). Where schools preferred an opt-out method, adolescents carried out the survey individually during their Information Technology (IT) classes at school.

(ii) HDL database: Parents of adolescents were contacted via e-mail with information about

the study and were invited to discuss the study with their child. For parents and adolescents who agreed to take part, the same procedure as described above applied - parents were

67 asked to give consent online. Once consent was given a second e-mail was sent with the link for the adolescent to access the online questionnaires.

3.4.1.2. Measures

As well as general demographic questions (age, sex, nationality) participants completed four questionnaires listed below.

NEO-Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI: Costa & McCrae, 1992a). For details see Chapter 2

(section 2.2.2. Measures).

Primary and Secondary Psychopathic Traits Scale (PSPT: Heym/Schwartz, in subm.). For

details see Chapter 2 (section 2.2.2. Measures).

Youth Psychopathy Inventory (YPI: Andershed et al., 2002). This 50-item dimensional self-

report scale measures 10 core facets of psychopathy, with 5 items per facet and is based on a three-factor structure: The Interpersonal factor, the CU factor and the Lifestyle factor (see

Appendix 3.1.). Table 3.1 below lists each higher-order YPI factor and their lower-order

facets. Responses were given on a 4-point Likert-scale (1= 'does not apply at all', 2= 'does not apply well', 3= 'applies fairly well', 4= 'applies very well').

Reactive-Proactive Aggression questionnaire (RPQ: Raine et al., 2006). This 23 item scale

assesses proactive (12 items) and reactive (11 items) aggression on a three-point Likert-scale (1= ' never', 2= 'sometimes', 3= 'often'; see Appendix 3.2.). Items assessing proactive

aggression include items such as “How often have you used physical force to get others to do what you want”. Items for reactive aggression for example assess “How often have you damaged things because you felt mad”. The RPQ has been found to be valid and reliable (Raine et al., 2006).

68 Table 3.1 Youth Psychopathy Inventory higher-order and lower-order factors

YPI higher-order YPI lower-order Item examples

Interpersonal Dishonest charm When I need to, I use my smile and my charm to

use others.

Grandiosity I’m better than everyone on almost everything. Lying Sometimes I find myself lying without any

particular reason.

Manipulation To get people to do what I want, I often find it efficient to con them.

Callous/ Unemotional

Callousness I think that crying is a sign of weakness, even if no one sees you.

Unemotionality I usually feel calm when other people are scared.

Remorselessness I seldom regret things I do, even if other people feel that they are wrong.

Lifestyle

Irresponsibility I have often been late to work or classes in school.

Impulsiveness It often happens that I talk first and think later. Thrill seeking I like to do exciting and dangerous things, even

if it is forbidden or illegal.

Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT: Babor et al., 1992). This measure comprises

10 items that assess alcohol intake in general and specifically in the last year (see Appendix 3.3.). The AUDIT is divided into three sections: frequency of drinking, dependence symptoms and harmful alcohol use. The scale has shown to have good reliability amongst patient and community samples (Babor et al., 1991).

We revised the AUDIT to make it more appropriate for the use by adolescents. For instance, alcohol consumption is measured in alcohol units. To make this more comprehensive, examples assisting calculations of alcohol to units were provided (i.e. 1 or 2 units of alcohol are equal to 1 pint of beer or up to 2 glasses of wine/alco-pops). One item was excluded because of ethical considerations to ensure that participants did not perceive the behaviour described in the scale as normal (‘How often during the last year have you needed a first drink in the morning to get yourself going after a heavy drinking session?’). The

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3.4.1.3. Procedure

Pupils were asked to complete materials online. Participants could access the survey via a SurveyMonkey link sent to the parents’ email address or given to them by a teacher during an IT class. When participants logged onto the SurveyMonkey site, they were taken to their own unique response page. For each questionnaire, participants were told to respond to all items and to be accurate and honest. They were further informed that all information they gave would be confidential and anonymous and for their efforts they would be entered into a prize-draw with a chance of winning a £50 Amazon voucher. Participants had to email the researcher with the words ‘prize-draw’ in order to be entered into the draw. This ensured that participants’ data were completely separate from their contact details. Information sheets, consent forms and debrief form can be found in Appendix 3.5.