an examination of the factor structure of the psychopathy checklist

3.3.2 ARF Factor Structure
The construct validity of the five-item ARF measure was evaluated to determine
which items best represent the construct of instrumental aggression in adolescent
females. Prior to running CFA, the normality of the ARF was assessed. Both the
skewness (.376) and kurtosis (-.498) values were examined, as well as the Q-Q plot,
revealing that ARF scores are approximately normally distributed. Similar to the
PCL:YV, due to nonnormality at the item-level, the GLS estimator was employed.
Missing values were imputed prior to running this analysis and imputed values were
rounded to the nearest integer.
Although the fit indices approached acceptable cutoffs, the ARF one-factor model
did not met requirements for adequate model fit; χ 2 (5, N = 130) = 9.49, p = .09, CFI =
.89, TLI = .78, RMSEA = .08. Two items were strongly related to the instrumental
aggression factor: goal directed (.79), and planning or preparation (.83). In contrast, lack
of anger (.47) showed a moderate correlation, unprovoked (.26) showed a weak
correlation, and the correlation between stranger victim (.11) and instrumental
aggression was negligible.
3.3.3 Principal Variables of Interest
3.3.3.1 Psychopathy. Psychopathy was assessed for 145 offenders. Scores
ranged from 4.20 to 34.00. Table 2 provides the PCL:YV mean, standard deviation, and
its correlation with the ARF. The vast majority of offenders (93.0%) scored below 30,
7.0% scored 30 or higher. Using a cut score of 25, 76.8% of offenders were classified
as non-psychopaths, while 23.2% were classified as psychopaths (score ≥ 25). When
psychopathy was assessed categorically, 54.2% of offenders scored in the low range
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