Triarchic Psychopathy Traits as Predictors of Antisocial Behavior, Socioemotional Functioning, and Academic Performance in Adolescence.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Research has often overlooked the distinct contributions of psychopathy core traits in adolescence. This longitudinal study examined how meanness, disinhibition, and boldness predict several outcomes over three waves in a diverse sample of adolescents. METHOD Using Bayesian multilevel modeling, we analyzed data from 698 adolescents of White ethnic background and Italian nationality (M = 16.5 years, SD = 1.1), evenly divided by gender, who completed self-report measures of psychopathy, antisocial behavior, conduct problems, peer difficulties, pathological narcissism, and school performance across three time points (4.5 months apart). RESULTS Meanness predicted antisocial behavior (βs = .07-.29), conduct problems (β = .27), and reduced prosociality (β = -.43), and Disinhibition was strongly linked to all externalizing symptoms and behaviors, emotional symptoms (β = .14), and lower school performance (β = -.18). Boldness was associated modestly with aggression (β = .04) and grandiose narcissism (β = .04), and moderately with lower internalizing problems (β = -.37). These predictive patterns were largely consistent across males and females, with the few differences consistent with research linking gender-role socialization and biological factors to sex-specific phenotypic expressions of psychopathic traits. Interactions between psychopathy dimensions suggested that boldness functioned as a modest protective factor, but only when disaffiliative or dysregulated tendencies were low. CONCLUSIONS This study highlights the longitudinal validity of the triarchic model of psychopathy in adolescence, showing distinct predictive patterns for meanness, disinhibition, and boldness. These findings suggest tailored interventions: emotion-focused strategies for meanness, self-regulation training for disinhibition, and interpersonal modulation for maladaptive expressions of boldness.