Assessment of Callous and Related Traits

Abstract

Abstract Callous–unemotional (CU) traits, the suggested developmental precursor to psychopathic personality disorder, best distinguish those antisocial youth at high risk for early onset, pervasive, aggressive, and violent behavior. CU traits are associated with fearlessness and emotional hyporeactivity to negative stimuli, which are thought to represent unique causal factors underlying the antisocial and aggressive behavior. Current methods for assessing CU traits in youth include but are not limited to the clinical expert rating scale; the Psychopathy Checklist: Youth Version; and informant and self‐report inventories, such as the Antisocial Process Screening Device, the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory, and the Inventory of Callous–Unemotional Traits. As part of a multi‐informant, multimethod approach, these tools can assist clinical and forensic professionals in assessing the presence of CU traits and associated risk for violence among youth to administer empirically supported interventions.