Callous-Unemotional Traits

The objective of the current study was to examine possible risk (school-bullying and victimization, exposure to media violence, callous-unemotional traits, impulsivity and narcissism) and protective (family, peer and school social support) factors that might be associated with cyberbullying and cyber-victimization by employing a longitudinal, two-wave design. The sample consisted of 1,416 (50.1% girls) adolescents living in Cyprus. The findings suggested cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between school-bullying and cyberbullying and between school-victimization and cyber-victimization. Furthermore, callous-unemotional traits were longitudinally related to cyberbullying. Media violence exposure was a risk factor leading to both cyberbullying and cyber-victimization, while family social support was a protective factor for both types of adjustment problems. Finally, family social support protected adolescents living in single-parent households from being cyber-victimized when their friendships were not supportive.

Age and gender differences across the lifespan in dark personality features could provide hints regarding these features' functions. We measured manipulation, callous affect, and egocentricity using the Dirty Dozen and their links with agreeableness in a pooled cross-sectional dataset (N = 4292) and a longitudinal dataset (N = 325). Age trends for all dark personality features were progressive through adolescence, but negative through adulthood. Men scored higher than women, but the gender gap varied with age. Trends for agreeableness partly mirrored these trends and changes in dark personality features and agreeable-ness were correlated. Results are discussed in light of the maturity principle of personality, gender role socialization processes, and issues regarding incremental validity of dark personality over traditional antagonism measures.

Youth who are exposed to violence are more likely to perpetrate violence. Incarcerated youth are a special population that is at a significantly greater risk for violent offending because of their relatively greater rates of violence exposure. Two important outcomes of violence exposure that may help explain its link with violence perpetration are posttraumatic stress disorder and problematic anger. The primary aim of the current study is to examine whether these important risk factors mediate the relation between two types of violence exposure (i.e., witnessing and victimization) and various types of violence perpetration in a sample of 373 incarcerated male adolescent offenders. A second aim is to test whether another well-established correlate of violence in youth, callous-unemotional (CU) traits (lack of empathy, guilt), adds unique variance beyond violence exposure, anger, and PTSD symptomatology. Findings suggest that anger is a robust predictor of violence and appears to at least partially act as the mechanism through which violence exposure is linked with violence perpetration. CU traits also contribute unique variance, beyond the significant effect of anger, to the statistical prediction of community, but not institutional, violence.

Youth with high callous-unemotional traits (CU) are at risk for early-onset and persistent conduct problems. Research suggests that there may be different developmental pathways to CU (genetic/constitutional vs environmental), and that the absence or presence of co-occurring internalizing problems is a key marker. However, it is unclear whether such a distinction is valid. Intermediate phenotypes such as DNA methylation, an epigenetic modification regulating gene expression, may help to clarify etiological pathways. This is the first study to examine prospective inter-relationships between environmental risk (prenatal/postnatal) and DNA methylation (birth, age 7 and 9) in the prediction of CU (age 13), for youth low vs high in internalizing problems. We focused on DNA methylation in the vicinity of the oxytocin receptor (OXTR) gene as it has been previously implicated in CU. Participants were 84 youth with early-onset and persistent conduct problems drawn from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children. For youth with low internalizing problems (46%), we found that (i) OXTR methylation at birth associated with higher CU (age 13) as well as decreased experience of victimization during childhood (evocative epigenetic-environment correlation; birth–age 7), (ii) higher prenatal parental risks (maternal psychopathology, criminal behaviors, substance use) associated with higher OXTR methylation at birth and (iii) OXTR methylation levels were more stable across time (birth–age 9). In contrast, for youth with high internalizing problems, CU were associated with prenatal risks of an interpersonal nature (that is, intimate partner violence, family conflict) but not OXTR methylation. Findings support the existence of distinct developmental pathways to CU.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with antisocial and delinquent behaviors in children and represent a potential risk factor for adult psychopathy. However, there is a paucity of longitudinal research that explores the development of these traits, their longitudinal association with conduct problems (CP), and their psychosocial predictors and outcomes. Using a large sample of children followed longitudinally from the Twins Early Development Study (N=9,578), we described the joint developmental trajectories of CU traits and CP during childhood (between ages 7 and 12) and examined the child- and family-level predictors (4 years old) and concomitant outcomes (12 years old) associated with the trajectories. The developmental trajectories were characterized with teachers' ratings of CU traits and CP from ages 7 to 12. Using general growth mixture modeling, we identified four trajectories of CU traits (stable high, increasing, decreasing, and stable low) and two trajecto...

Özet Bu yazıda, şiddet ve şiddetin altında yatan sebepler, katı-duygusallıktan yoksun kişilik özelliğine (callous-unemotio-nal traits) vurgu yapılarak ele alınmaktadır. Empati, acıma ve suçluluk duygularından yoksun olma gibi davranışları anlatan katı-duygusallıktan yoksun kişilik özelliği, Amerikan Psikiyatri Birliği'nin son yayınladığı tanı ölçütleri kitabında (DSM-V), davranım bozuklukları (conduct disorders) başlığı altında yeni bir değerlendirme unsuru ola-rak yer almaktadır. Davranım bozukluğu sergileyen diğer çocuklardan mizaç özellikleri, nöropsikolojik işlevler ve duygusal ve ahlaki gelişim bakımından ayrışan katı-duygusallıktan yoksun kişiliğe sahip çocuklar, yüksek seviyede şiddet davranışı sergilemekte, ergenlik ve yetişkinlik yıllarında antisosyal özellikler gösterebilecek risk grubunu oluşturmaktadır. Bu yazı, katı-duygusallıktan yoksun kişilik özelliği ile bağlantılı olarak şiddetin gelişimine etki eden mizaç, ebeveyn davranışları ve sosyokültürel ortam gibi biyolojik ve çevresel etmenleri inceleyen araştırma-ların bir derlemesini sunmakta ve araştırma bulgularını gelişimsel psikopatoloji bağlamında değerlendirmektedir.

The role of callous-unemotional (CU) traits and conduct problems in predicting conduct problem severity, severity and type of aggression, and self-reported delinquency at a 1-year follow-up was investigated in a sample of 98 children (mean age 12.43; SD = 1.72) recruited from a community-wide screening. Children with both CU traits and conduct problems had a greater number and variety of conduct problems at follow-up than children who at the screening had high levels of conduct problems alone. However, this poorer outcome for children with CU traits could largely be accounted for by differences in initial level of conduct problem severity. Children with CU traits and conduct problems were also at risk for showing higher levels of aggression, especially proactive aggression, and self-reported delinquency. Importantly, these outcomes could not be solely explained by initial level of conduct problem severity. Finally, CU traits predicted self-reported delinquency in some children who d...

This study examines the treatment outcomes of 139, 6-11 year-old, clinically referred boys and girls diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) or Conduct Disorder (CD) who were randomly assigned to a modular-based treatment protocol that was applied by research study clinicians either in the community (COMM) or a clinic office (CLINIC). To examine normative comparisons, a matched sample of 69 healthy control children was included. Multiple informants completed diagnostic interviews and self-reports at six assessment timepoints (pretreatment to 3-year follow-up) to evaluate changes in the child's behavioral and emotional problems, psychopathic features, functional impairment, diagnostic status, and service involvement. Using HLM and logistic regression models, COMM and CLINIC showed significant and comparable improvements on all outcomes. By 3-year follow-up, 36% of COMM and 47% of CLINIC patients no longer met criteria for either ODD or CD, and 48% and 57% of the children in these two respective conditions had levels of parent-rated externalizing behavior problems in the normal range. We discuss the nature and implications of these novel findings regarding the role of treatment context or setting for the treatment and long-term outcome of behavior disorders.

This study obtained teacher ratings of impulsivity, callous-unemotional traits, narcissism, and Machiavellianism for a sample of 252 middle school children, and investigated the extent to which these variables were related to reactive versus proactive aggression and physical versus relational aggression. Results showed a main effect for gender, with boys rated highest on all measures of psychopathy and aggression, with the exception of relational aggression. Results of hierarchical multiple regressions showed that whereas impulsivity was associated with all types of aggression, CU traits, narcissism, and Machiavellianism were differentially related to specific forms of childhood aggression. In addition, Machiavellianism mediated the relationship between narcissism and relational aggression. Implications for fine-tuning interventions in ways that account for the motivators underlying subtypes of childhood aggression are discussed.

Shaffer, C. S., Gatner, D., Gray, A. L., Douglas, K. S., Viljoen, J. L., ... Gagnon, N. C. (2016). Incremental and predictive validity of the Antisocial Process Screening Device in male and female Caucasian and ethnic minority youth. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 44, 1599-1612.

The Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD) is a well-supported tool for assessing psychopathic features in youth.  However, most research with the APSD has been derived from clinical and forensic samples comprised mainly of male Caucasian and African American adolescents.  In this prospective study, the incremental and predictive validity of the self-report APSD for violent and non-violent offending was examined in an ethnically diverse community sample of male and female youth (N = 335) aged 12 to 14.  High-school students from a moderate sized city in Western Canada completed the self-report APSD and then completed the Self-Report of Offending 6 months later.  Receiver Operating Characteristics analysis indicated that APSD total and subscale scores were predictive of violent and non-violent offending at 6-month follow-up with moderate to large effect sizes.  In addition, total scores on the APSD added incremental predictive utility above and beyond traditional criminogenic predictors of youth offending (i.e., prior offending, delinquent peer affiliation, poor school achievement, substance use, low parental monitoring).  Although sex differences emerged in the predictive utility of the Impulsivity subscale of the APSD vis-à-vis violent offending, sex did not moderate the relationship between APSD total, Narcissism, or Callous/Unemotional scores and offending.  In addition, the predictive utility of the APSD did not vary as a function of the youth’s ethnic background.  These findings suggest that: (1) the self-report APSD may have utility for risk or threat assessment with normative school populations, (2) APSD findings from higher risk samples generalize to a lower risk sample of high-school youth, and (3) predictive utility of APSD total scores do not differ across male and female Caucasian and ethnic minority youth.

Any social and political arrangement depends on acceptance. If a substantial part of a people does not accept the authority of its rulers, then those can only remain in power by means of force, and even that use of force needs to be accepted to be effective. Gramsci called this acceptance of the socio-political status quo “hegemony”. Every stable state relies primarily on hegemony as a source of control. Hegemony works through the dissemination of values and beliefs that create acceptance and that serve the interests of the state and/or the ruling elite (the “hegemones”). Hegemony is most efficient if it remains invisible. A key hegemonic belief is the idea that there is no alternative to the current socio-political status quo or that the way things are is “natural”. The current hegemony – that is, the set of values and beliefs that bolster the current socio-political status quo – is a hegemony of psychopathy: it promotes “cultural psychopathy” and destroys empathy and compassion, thus threatening everything that makes us human.
The hegemony of psychopathy is responsible for massive human suffering. It must be fought and replaced with a counter-hegemonic set of values and beliefs that promote compassion and care. Fighting hegemony requires fighting the “pillars” that support it. Most important among these are the mass media and culture industry, and mainstream economics. The former is responsible for a continuous stream of hegemonic propaganda; the latter – among others – for providing a pseudo-scientific justification for the false belief that there is no alternative. This essay closes off with some considerations on tactics and strategy in the struggle against the hegemony of psychopathy, but does not – and cannot – offer any concrete advice.

Objective: To investigate the unique contribution of narcissism and impulsivity, in addition to callous-unemotional (CU) traits, in explaining concurrent prosocial and antisocial behavior. Method: Two hundred and forty-nine schoolchildren (53% female; age 9-12 years) completed the self-report Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). Two statistical models were tested, predicting conduct problems (CP) and prosocial behavior (PB). In the first one, CU traits and gender were entered into the equation. The second model added narcissism and impulsivity. Results: Gender, narcissism and impulsivity, but not CU, were statistically significant predictors of CP in the second model (F 3,226 = 45.07, p o 0.001, R 2 = 43.7%; betas: gender =-0.20, narcissism = 0.29, impulsivity = 0.36, CU = 0.06). PB was significantly predicted by all domains except gender (F 3,226 = 42.57, p o 0.001, R 2 = 42.4%; betas: gender = 0.08, narcissism =-0.16, impulsivity =-0.23, CU =-0.41). Conclusion: Our results confirmed that CU traits refer to a distinct manifestation of psychopathy in youth, but we also found that narcissism and impulsivity are equally important when predicting CP. Previous reports of sex differences on APSD and SDQ domains were also corroborated.

This study examined the relationship between callous-unemotional (CU) traits and parenting practices over time in a mixed-sex community cohort (N = 1,008; 52.6% boys), aged 3 to 10 years (M = 6.5, SD = 1.3). Measures of CU traits, externalizing psychopathology, parenting practices, and socioeconomic risk factors were collected at baseline, and parenting practices and CU traits were reassessed at 12-month follow-up. CU traits uniquely accounted for change in three domains of parenting (inconsistent discipline, punishment, and parental involvement). Likewise, multiple domains of parenting (positive parenting, parental involvement, and poor monitoring/supervision) uniquely predicted change in CU traits. These seemingly bidirectional dynamics between CU traits and parenting were found to be largely moderated by child age and sex. Results partially replicate previous findings regarding the association between quality of parenting and prospective change in CU traits, and provide initial evidence that CU traits disrupt parenting practices over time.

Examined the emotional reactivity of adolescents with antisocial behavior problems using a lexical decision paradigm. Evidence from adult forensic samples indicates that psychopathic traits are associated with abnormalities in the processing of emotional stimuli. In an attempt to extend these findings earlier in development, this association was tested in a sample of adolescents (mean age = 16.01; SD = 1.32) referred to a diversion program for delinquent behavior. Emotional processing was assessed by comparing recognition time for emotional words, both positive and negative, to recognition time for nonemotional words. Consistent with adult findings, the callous-unemotional (CU) dimension of psychopathy was associated with slower reaction times to negative words. In contrast, problems of impulse control were associated with faster recognition times for negative emotional words. These findings suggest that different patterns of emotional reactivity may characterize distinct subgroups of youth with antisocial behavior problems.