Dimensional Latent Structure of Callous-Unemotional Traits in German Adolescents: Results from Taxometric Analyses.

A large amount of research has addressed the issue of the latent status of psychiatric disorders and related phenomena. We used a new taxometric approach developed by Ruscio to examine the latent status of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in a large representative study of German ninth graders (N = 3,878). Rather than estimating a putative taxon base rate and using that estimate to generate the taxon comparative data, we estimated CCFI profiles with each base rate estimate between 2.

Identifying Predictors of Inpatient Verbal Aggression in a Forensic Psychiatric Setting Using a Tree-based Modeling Approach.

Inpatient violence poses a great risk to the health and well-being of other patients and members of staff. Previous research has shown that prevalence rates of violent behavior are particularly high in forensic psychiatric settings. Thus, the reliable identification of forensic inpatients who are particularly at risk for violent behavior is an important aspect of risk management.

The Influence of Harsh Parenting and Parental Warmth During Childhood on Later Involvement in Prison Misconduct.

Research has shown that childhood victimization is associated with later involvement in delinquency. Prevalence rates of childhood victimization also tend to be higher among prison inmates compared with the general population. However, it has rarely been examined if childhood experiences-both negative and positive-have an effect on prison misconduct.

Age-related differences in spontaneous trait judgments from facial appearance.

We tested whether there are age-related declines in detecting cues to trustworthiness, a skill that has been demonstrated to be rapid and automatic in younger adults. Young (  = 21.2 years) and older (  = 70.

Brief assessment of subjective health complaints: Development, validation and population norms of a brief form of the Giessen Subjective Complaints List (GBB-8).

Objective: Although there is no causal relationship to medical morbidity, routine clinical assessment of somatic symptoms aids medical diagnosis and assessment of treatment effectiveness. Regardless of their causes, somatic symptoms indicate suffering, distress, and help-seeking behavior. The aim of the present study was to develop and validate a brief self-report questionnaire to assess somatic symptom strain.

[Psychometric Evaluation of an Arabic Version of the PHQ-4 Based on a Representative Survey of Syrian Refugees].

This study addresses the need for methodologically sound, brief screening procedures (e. g., the PHQ-4) which need to be validated for refugees in their native languages.

Selecting fillers on emotional appearance improves lineup identification accuracy.

Mock witnesses sometimes report using criminal stereotypes to identify a face from a lineup, a tendency known as criminal face bias. Faces are perceived as criminal-looking if they appear angry. We tested whether matching the emotional appearance of the fillers to an angry suspect can reduce criminal face bias.

Rationalising predictors of child sexual exploitation and sex-trading.

Although there is evidence for specific risk factors leading to child sexual exploitation and prostitution, these influences overlap and have rarely been examined concurrently. The present study examined case files for 175 young persons who attended a voluntary organization in Leicester, United Kingdom, which supports people who are sexually exploited or at risk of sexual exploitation. Based on the case files, the presence or absence of known risk factors for becoming a sex worker was coded.