Under the surface of adolescent psychopathic traits: High- anxious and low-anxious subgroups in a community sample of youths Selma Salihovic * , Margaret Kerr, Håkan Stattin Örebro University, Sweden article info Article history: Available online 27 March 2014 Keywords: Anxiety Psychopathic traits Primary Secondary Subgroups Adolescents abstract In this study, we examined subgroups of adolescents based on their levels of psychopathic traits and anxiety. Participants were 914 youths from a community sample, with a mean age of 14.28 (SD ¼ .94) years. We used adolescents’ self-reports of psychopathic traits and their parents’ reports of the adolescent’s anxiety to identify distinct subgroups of youths. Using latent class analysis, we identified five groups that varied in levels of psychopathic traits and anxiety. Two groups were characterized by high levels of psychopathic traits and high or low scores on anxiety. Validation of these subgroups revealed that they differed significantly from each other in theoretically meaningful waysdthe low-anxious subgroup reported higher levels of psychopathic traits, lower levels of impulsivity and hyperactivity, and lower levels of aggression than the high-anxious group. These findings are in line with previous empirical research and provide support that anxiety discriminates between two subgroups of adolescents with psychopathic traits. Ó 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Psychopathy is a syndrome characterized by a combination of interpersonal, affective, and behavioral traits (Cooke & Michie, 2001). People high on psychopathic traits are described as callous, dishonest, manipulative, and impulsivedchar- acteristics that contribute to a lifestyle often characterized by antisocial behavior and violence. Over the past decade, scholars interested in understanding the etiology of serious antisocial behavior have focused on the expressions of the disorder in younger populations in order to identify those at risk of becoming antisocial adults. There is today ample evidence that psychopathic traits can be identified in adolescents and that their presence is linked to antisocial behavior and violence both concurrently and prospectively (for reviews, see Forth & Book, 2010; Salekin & Frick, 2005; Salekin, Rosenbaum, Lee, & Lester, 2009). There is also increasing support that youths with psychopathic traits are a heterogeneous group (e.g., Skeem, Poythress, Edens, Lilienfeld, & Cale, 2003). Hence, there is a need to identify, describe, and understand subgroups of youths with psychopathic traits. Theoretically, it has been suggested that the development of psychopathy can originate from innate biological dispositions as well as environmentally influenced factors (e.g., Cleckley, 1976; Lykken, 1995; Karpman, 1941). Karpman (1941) was among the first to propose a distinction between two subtypes of psychopathy. The primary subtype of psychopathy is hypothesized * Corresponding author. Center for Developmental Research, JPS: Psychology, Örebro University, 70182 Örebro, Sweden. Tel.: þ46 (0) 19 301 407; fax: þ46 (0) 19 301 421. E-mail address: selma.salihovic@oru.se (S. Salihovic). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Adolescence journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jado http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adolescence.2014.03.002 0140-1971/Ó 2014 The Foundation for Professionals in Services for Adolescents. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Journal of Adolescence 37 (2014) 681–689