Development and Validation of the Antisocial Traits Scale in the General Population

Abstract

Antisocial traits have severe outcomes for the perpetrator, victim, and society. Developing an assessment tool for antisocial traits that is theoretically grounded, has strong psychometric properties, and can be administered in the general population is very important for the identification and treatment of the problems associated with antisocial traits. The initial item pool was generated as the result of an extensive literature review based on criteria of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5). Items were examined through exploratory factor analysis in a sample of 2,051 residents of Tehran. The structural validity was tested on a separate 2,049 people. The final version explains 58.4% of the total variation of the construct and included 20 questions loaded on six factors. The resultant Antisocial Traits Scale (ASTS-20) has the potential to be a useful measure for early detection of at-risk people who should be targeted by preventive interventions aimed at reducing the likelihood of criminality or recidivism.