The Efficacy of a Compassion-Focused Therapy–Based Intervention in Reducing Psychopathic Traits and Disruptive Behavior: A Clinical Case Study With a Juvenile Detainee

Conduct disorder (CD) is the most diagnosed psychopathological disorder in juvenile detainees. The presence of a CD diagnosis, especially when associated with psychopathic traits, contributes to a poor prognosis, high recidivism rates, and low responsivity to treatment in these youth. Although group intervention programs have proven to be effective in decreasing antisocial behavior, studies testing their efficacy in reducing psychopathic traits are scarce and limited. Moreover, there is a lack of research focused on the efficacy of individual treatment approaches specifically designed to reduce psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior in juvenile detainees. Compassion-focused therapy (CFT) shows promising results in the treatment of several psychopathological disorders. Besides, there is some theoretical support to consider CFT a suitable approach to treating juvenile detainees. However, there are no treatment programs based on CFT that are designed to target psychopathic traits and disruptive behavior...