Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Psychometric Validation of a Simplified Form of the PICTS for Low-Reading Level Populations

  • Published:
Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS) is one of the most widely used measures of criminal thinking. Although the PICTS has adequate psychometric qualities with many general population inmates, the measurement confound of reading ability may decrease its construct validity in low-literacy inmates. To help resolve this confound, we present psychometric evaluation of a simplified version of the PICTS (PICTS-SV) in which item language was simplified but item content was preserved. We first conducted Lexile analyses to confirm the reading level of the PICTS-SV is significantly lower than the original PICTS (i.e., sixth grade versus ninth grade). We then tested a bifactor model to confirm the PICTS-SV contains the same two factors as the original PICTS: proactive and reactive criminal thinking. These PICTS-SV results are commensurate with the factor structure of the original PICTS. Results suggest the PICTS-SV is a valid alternative for assessing criminal thinking in inmates with low reading ability.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Educational attainment was unavailable for 1.8 % of male sexual offenders.

References

  • Allison, P. D. (2002). Missing data (Quantitative applications in the social sciences). In Thousand Oaks. CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, & National Council on Measurement in Education (2014). Standards for educational and psychological testing. Washington, DC: AERA Publications.

  • Andrews, J. R., & Bonta, J. (2010). The psychology of criminal conduct (5th Ed.). In New Providence. NJ: Matthew Bender & Company, Inc.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benet-Martinez, V., & John, O. P. (1998). Los Cinco Grandes across cultures and ethnic groups: Multitrait-multimethod analyses of the Big Five in Spanish and English. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75(3), 729–750.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Borsboom, D., Mellenbergh, G. J., & van Heerden, J. (2004). The concept of validity. Psychological Review, 111(4), 1061–1071.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Cantor, J. M., Blanchard, R., Robichaud, L. K., & Christensen, B. K. (2005). Quantitative reanalysis of aggregate data on IQ in sexual offenders. Psychological Bulletin, 131(4), 555–568.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Chen, F. F., Hayes, A., Carver, C. S., Laurenceau, J.-P., & Zhang, Z. (2012). Modeling general and specific variance in multifaced constructs: A comparison of the bifactor model to other approaches. Journal of Personality, 80(1), 219–251.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Choi, J., Peters, M., & Mueller, R. O. (2010). Correlational analysis of ordinal data: from Pearson’s r to Bayesian polychoric correlation. Asia Pacific Education Review, 11(4), 459–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cizek, G. J. (2012). Defining and distinguishing validity: Interpretations of scores meaning and justification of test use. Psychological Methods, 17(1), 31–43.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity: Basic issues in objective scale development. Psychological Assessment, 7(3), 309–319.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodge, K. A., & Coie, J. D. (1987). Social-information processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children’s peer groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 53(6), 1146–1158.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Egan, V., McMurran, M., Richardson, C., & Blair, M. (2000). Criminal cognitions and personality: What does the PICTS really measure? Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 10(3), 170–184.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fanti, K. A., Frick, P. J., & Georgiou, S. (2009). Linking callous-unemotional traits to instrumental and non-instrumental forms of aggression. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 31(4), 285–298.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Flora, D. B., & Curran, P. J. (2004). An empirical evaluation of alternative methods of estimation for confirmatory factor analysis with ordinal data. Psychological Methods, 9(4), 466–491.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gonsalves, V. M., Scalora, M. J., & Huss, M. T. (2009). Prediction of recidivism using the psychopathy checklist—revised and the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles within a forensic sample. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36(7), 741–756.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenberg, E., Dunleavy, E., Kutner, M., & White, S. (2007). Literacy behind bars: Results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy Prison Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holgado-Tello, F. P., Chacón-Moscoso, S., Barbero-García, I., & Vila-Abad, E. (2010). Polychoric versus Pearson correlations in exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis of ordinal variables. Quality and Quantity, 44(1), 153–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indices in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6(1), 1–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kalichman, S. C., Cain, D., Fuhrel, A., Eaton, L., Di Fonzo, K., & Ertl, T. (2005). Assessing medication adherence self-efficacy among low-literacy patients: Development of a pictographic visual analogue scale. Health Education Research, 20(1), 24–35.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kenny, D. A. (2014, Oct 6). Measuring model fit. Retrieved from: http://davidakenny.net/cm/fit.htm.

  • Kenny, D. A., & McCoach, D. B. (2003). Effect of the number of variables on measures of fit in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 10(3), 333–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Masner, J. B., & Wootton, R. R. (1993). Literacy and the Job Training Act: A survey study. Journal of Employment Counseling, 30(1), 13–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller, J. D., & Lynam, D. R. (2006). Reactive and proactive aggression: Similarities and differences. Personality and Individual Differences, 41(8), 1469–1480.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muirhead, J. E., & Rhodes, R. (1998). Literacy level of Canadian federal offenders. Journal of Correctional Education, 49(2), 59–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murray-Close, D., Ostrov, J. M., Nelson, D. A., Crick, N. R., & Coccaro, E. F. (2010). Proactive, reactive, and romantic relational aggression in adulthood: Measurement, predictive validity, gender differences, and association with Intermittent Explosive Disorder. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 44(6), 393–404.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Muthen, B. (1984). A general structural equation model with dichotomous, ordered categorical, and continuous latent variable indicators. Psychometrika, 49(1), 115–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paasche-Orlow, M. K., Clarke, J. G., Hebert, M. R., Ray, M. K., & Stein, M. D. (2005). Educational attainment but not literacy is associated with HIV risk behavior among incarcerated women. Journal of Women's Health, 14(9), 852–859.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, E. J., & Hollin, C. R. (2004a). Predicting reconviction using the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles with English prisoners. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 9(1), 57–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, E. J., & Hollin, C. R. (2004b). The use of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles with English young offenders. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 9(2), 253–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Poulin, F., & Boivin, M. (2000). The role of proactive and reactive aggression in the formation and development of boys’ friendships. Developmental Psychology, 36(2), 233–240.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Rosseel, Y. (2012). lavaan: An R package for structural equation modeling. Journal of Statistical Software, 48(2), 1–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryan, T. A. (1991). Literacy training and reintegration of offenders. Forum on Corrections Research, 3(1), 17–23.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santorra, A., & Bentler, P. M. (2001). A scaled difference chi-square test statistic for moment structure analysis. Psychometrika, 66(4), 507–514.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Savalei, V. (2011). What to do about zero frequency cells when estimating polychoric correlations. Structural Equation Modeling, 18(2), 253–273.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shippen, M. E., Houchins, D. E., Crites, S. A., Derzis, N. C., & Patterson, D. (2010). An examination of the basic reading skills of incarcerated males. Adult Learning, 21(3/4), 4–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, D. (2014). The readability test tool (software). Available from http://read-able.com/.

  • Sykes, G. M., & Matza, D. (1957). Techniques of neutralization: A theory of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 22(6), 664–670.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Buuren, S., & Groothuis-Oudshoorn, K. (2011). Mice: Multivariate imputation by chained equations in R. Journal of Statistical Software, 45(3), 1–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (1995a). The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles: I. Reliability and preliminary validity. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 22(3), 307–325.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (1995b). The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles Part II: Identifying simulated responses sets. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 22(4), 437–445.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (1996). The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles: Part III. Predictive validity. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 40(2), 105–112.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (1997). Predicting short-term release outcome using the LCSF and PICTS. Journal of the Mental Health in Corrections Consortium, 43(3&4), 18–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2001). Revised validity scales for the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS). Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 32(4), 1–13.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2002). The Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS): A review and meta-analysis. Assessment, 9(3), 278–291.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2004). Predictors of early termination in a prison-based program of psychoeducation. The Prison Journal, 84(2), 171–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2005a). How many factors are there on the PICTS? Criminal Behaviour and Mental Health, 15(4), 273–283.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2005b). Proactive and reactive aggression: A lifestyle view. In J. P. Morgan (Ed.), Psychology of Aggression (pp. 29–43). Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2006). Proactive and reactive composite scales for the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS). Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 42(4), 23–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2007). Measuring proactive and reactive criminal thinking with the PICTS: Correlations with outcome expectancies and hostile attribution biases. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22(4), 371–385.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2009). Effect of a longer versus shorter test-release interval on recidivism prediction with the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking (PICTS). International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 53(6), 665–678.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2012). Criminal thinking and recidivism: Meta-analytic evidence on the predictive and incremental validity of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles (PICTS). Aggression and Violent Behavior, 17(3), 272–278.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2014a). An item response theory analysis of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles: Comparing male and female probationers and prisoners. Psychological Assessment, 26(3), 1050–1055.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D. (2014b). Relationships among race, education, criminal thinking, and recidivism: Moderator and mediator effects. Assessment, 21(1), 82–91.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D., & Elliott, W. N. (1999). Predicting release and disciplinary outcome with the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles: Female data. Legal and Criminological Psychology, 4(1), 15–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D., & Geyer, M. D. (2005). Construct validity of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles in relationship to the PAI, disciplinary adjustment, and program completion. Journal of Personality Assessment, 84(3), 252–260.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D., Elliott, W. N., & Miscoll, D. (1998). Use of the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles in a group of female offenders. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 25(1), 125–134.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D., Frederick, A. A., & Schlauch, C. (2007). Postdicting arrests for proactive and reactive aggression with the PICTS Proactive and Reactive composite scales. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 22(11), 1415–1430.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D., Deming, A., & Elliot, W. N. (2009). Assessing criminal thinking in male sex offenders with the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 36(10), 1025–1036.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D., Hagman, B. T., & Cohn, A. M. (2011). Toward a hierarchical model of criminal thinking: Evidence from item response theory and confirmatory factor analysis. Psychological Assessment, 23(4), 925–936.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Walters, G. D., Deming, A., & Casbon, T. (2015). Predicting recidivism in sex offenders with the psychological inventory of criminal thinking styles (PICTS). Assessment, 22(2), 167–177.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • White, J. M., Wampler, R. S., & Winn, K. I. (1998). The Identity Style Inventory: A revision with a sixth-grade reading level (ISI-6G). Journal of Adolescent Research, 13(2), 223–245.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, M. V., Baker, D. W., Honig, E. G., Lee, T. M., & Nowlan, A. (1998). Inadequate literacy is a barrier to asthma knowledge and self-care. Chest Journal, 114(4), 1008–1015.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, M. S., Bennett, C. L., Davis, T. C., Marin, E., & Arnold, C. (2005a). A qualitative study of literacy and patient response to HIV medication adherence questionnaires. Journal of Health Communication, 10(6), 509–517.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Wolf, M. S., Chang, C. H., Davis, T., & Makoul, G. (2005b). Development and validation of the Communication and Attitudinal Self-efficacy scale for cancer (CASE-cancer). Patient Education and Counseling, 57(3), 333–341.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yochelson, S., & Samenow, S. E. (1976). The criminal personality: Vol I. A profile for change. New York, NY: Jason Aronson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu, C. Y. (2002). Evaluating cutoff criteria of model fit indices for latent variables models with binary and continuous outcomes. Doctoral dissertation. Los Angeles: University California.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zou, G. Y. (2007). Toward using confidence intervals to compare correlations. Psychological Methods, 12(4), 399–413.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Dr. Walters for providing permission to modify the original PICTS and for his initial review of this paper.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    David J. Disabato, Johanna B. Folk, Jordan Daylor & June Tangney

  2. MHM Services, Inc., 1593 Spring Hill Road, Suite 600, Vienna, VA, 22182, USA

    John Wilson & Sharen Barboza

Authors
  1. David J. Disabato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Johanna B. Folk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. John Wilson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Sharen Barboza
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Jordan Daylor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. June Tangney
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Wilson.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

David J. Disabato, Johanna B. Folk, John Wilson, Sharen Barboza, Jordan Daylor and June Tangney declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Experiment Participants

Dr. Wilson and Dr. Barboza are employees of MHM Services, Inc., which provides contractual behavioral health services to state correctional systems. All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. This was a retrospective study, and formal consent is not required.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Disabato, D.J., Folk, J.B., Wilson, J. et al. Psychometric Validation of a Simplified Form of the PICTS for Low-Reading Level Populations. J Psychopathol Behav Assess 38, 456–464 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9533-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9533-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation