To Örebro University

The present study aimed to examine the psychometric properties of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory (YPI) and its short version (YPI-S) in a sample of 2081 Chinese 11- to 19-year-old school-attending youth (M (age) = 14.27, SD = 1.62). Confirmatory factor analyses showed that a bifactor model best fit the data at the subscale level for the YPI and at the item level for the YPI-S. The internal consistency of the YPI and YPI-S scores ranged from marginal to good. Measurement invariance testing revealed that the bifactor model of the YPI-S was equivalent across gender, while the bifactor model of the YPI showed moderate differences between boys and girls. Both the YPI and YPI-S total and factor scores were positively related to Antisocial Process Screening Device scores and Rule-Breaking and Aggressive behavior, though these relations were most often stronger for the YPI scores. In conclusion, the Chinese-language versions of the YPI and YPI-S hold promise as assessment tools to measure psychopathic traits in Chinese adolescents but are not without limitations. Whereas the YPI-S is more time-effective and yields scores that are more internally consistent than the YPI, the YPI seems to outperform the YPI-S in terms of convergent and criterion validity.