Research on the role of risk perception as a mechanism linking personality traits and behavioral outcomes is limited. The current study assessed a developmental model of the influence of psychopathic traits (PPTs) on the between- and within-individual variation in perceptions of risk and aggressive offending. Multivariate latent growth curve models were used to estimate the role of risk perceptions in the association between PPTs and aggressive offending in a sample of 1,354 adjudicated youths. The results indicated that PPTs influenced between-individual differences in perceptions of risk (β = −.312) and aggressive offending (β = .256), although the effects on within-individual differences suggested some attenuation over time. Additionally, higher PPT scores exhibited an indirect influence on increased aggressive offending through reduced perceptions of risk (β = .049). Implications from this line of research support calls for a developmentally informed juvenile justice system that considers latent personality traits and their long-term effects. Broader implications support individualized rehabilitative programming and tailored responses to offending over the blanket deterrence approach that dominates the current landscape of the American criminal justice system.

关于风险感知作为连接人格特质和行为结果的机制的作用的研究是有限的。当前的研究评估了精神病特征 (PPT) 对风险感知和攻击性犯罪的个体之间和个体内部差异影响的发展模型。在 1,354 名被裁定青少年的样本中，使用多元潜在增长曲线模型来估计风险认知在 PPT 与攻击性犯罪之间的关联中的作用。结果表明，PPT 会影响个体之间在风险感知 (β = -.312) 和攻击性攻击 (β = .256) 方面的差异，尽管对个体差异的影响表明随着时间的推移会有所减弱。此外，较高的 PPT 分数通过降低对风险的感知（β = .049）显示出对攻击性犯罪增加的间接影响。这一系列研究支持的含义需要一个考虑到潜在人格特征及其长期影响的发育知情少年司法系统。更广泛的影响支持个性化的康复计划和针对在美国刑事司法系统当前格局中占主导地位的全面威慑方法的冒犯行为的定制反应。