Taubner, S; White, LO; Zimmermann, J; Fonagy, P; Nolte, T; (2012) Mentalization moderates and mediates the link between psychopathy and aggressive behavior in male adolescents. Journal Of The American Psychoanalytic Association , 60 (3) 605 - 612. 10.1177/0003065112450148.

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Abstract

Objective: To examine the role of mentalizing in the relationship between psychopathy and aggression in a sample of 75 male adolescents. Method: The participants were drawn from two other studies comparing mentalizing abilities of offenders with healthy community samples. Data was collected on mentalization capacities using the Adult-Attachment-Interview. Psychopathic traits and aggressive behavior were measured via self-report. Results: A mediator-analysis revealed that mentalization partially explains the relationship between psychopathic traits and proactive aggressive behavior. Furthermore, mentalization has a moderating effect indicating that only individuals low on mentalization behave aggressively when high on psychopathic traits. Conclusions: Psychopathic traits alone do not explain aggressive behavior and therefore further research is needed to understand other mediating factors.

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