Measuring the callous-unemotional traits in Spanish juvenile offenders: properties and functioning of the INCA questionnaire in this population

Abstract

The Inventory of Callous-unemotional Traits and Antisocial Behaviour (INCA) was developed to assess (a) traits precursors of psychopathy and (b) antisocial behaviour in adolescents, but its psychometric properties have only been assessed in community samples. Considering that juvenile offenders are an important target population for this kind of instrument, the current study aims to assess the INCA functioning in this population. Participants were 202 young Spanish offenders, who answered several questionnaires. Factor-analytic solutions, in which response biases were controlled, suggested that there were only three content factors underlying the data. As most of the antisocial behaviour items loaded in the callousness subscale, these items were removed, leading to adequate fit, scalability and scoring results. Callousness and uncaring were related to aggression and impulsivity, as expected. Results highlight the importance of assessing the psychometric properties of questionnaires in the specific populations where the instrument may be highly relevant, such as offenders.