Does parental behavior moderate the association between psychopathic traits andantisocial behavior in adolescents?

Sammanfattning: This study examines the moderating effect of six different parental behaviors on the level ofantisocial behavior in adolescents with psychopathic traits. Participants were 839 adolescents froma mid-sized town in Sweden between the ages of 13 - 15 years (M = 14.2, SD = .94). Parentalbehaviors and antisocial behavior were measured through adolescents' self-reports, psychopathictraits were measured using the Youth Psychopathic traits Inventory (YPI). The result from themoderation analysis showed that the three negative parental behaviors (bad reactions to disclosure,angry outbursts and coldness-rejection) had a significant positive moderating effect on the level ofantisocial behavior that the adolescents engaged in. The three positive parental behaviors (warmth,attempted understanding and control) however, did not have a significant moderating effect on thelevel of antisocial behavior. In sum, the result from this study suggests that negative parentalbehavior acts as risk factors for adolescents with psychopathic traits to engage in higher levels ofantisocial behavior. Furthermore, positive parental behaviors do not have a buffering effect againstantisocial behavior among these youths, indicating that it may be beyond the parents’ control toprevent the negative development of antisocial behavior among these youths.