A comparison of the role of aggression in the association between hostile interpretation bias and antisocial personality features between young offenders and university students.

Background: Antisocial personality features in adolescents are frequently associated with delinquency and constitute the problem that most concerns the criminal justice system and the public. Hostile interpretation bias has been identified as a candidate for explaining emergent adolescent antisocial personality problems and aggression, but it is unclear whether offenders and non-offenders show differences in the relationships between hostile interpretation bias, aggression and antisocial personality features.

Aims: To compare relationships between hostile interpretation bias and a personality measure between incarcerated teenagers and first year university students and to explore aggression and criminal history as mediating or moderating variables.