Abstract
Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are thought to confer risk for aggression via reduced amygdala responsivity to distress cues in others. Low cortisol reactivity is thought to confer risk for aggression via reduced arousal and this effect may be confined to boys. We tested the hypothesis that the association between childhood CU traits and aggression would be greatest in the absence of the inhibitory effects of cortisol reactivity, and that this effect would be sex dependent. Participants were 283 members of a stratified subsample within an epidemiological longitudinal cohort (WCHADS). Cortisol reactivity to a social stressor was assessed at 5 years. CU traits were reported by mothers at 5 years, and physical aggression by mothers and teachers at age 7. Results showed that CU traits were associated with elevated aggression at 7 years controlling for earlier aggression. There was no main effect of cortisol reactivity on regression. The association between CU traits and aggression was moderated by cortisol reactivity (p = .011) with a strong association between CU traits and aggression in the presence of low reactivity, and a small and non-significant association in the presence of high reactivity. This association was further moderated by child sex (p = .041) with the joint effect of high CU traits and low cortisol reactivity seen only in boys (p = .016). We report first evidence that a combined deficit in inhibitory processes associated with CU traits and low cortisol reactivity increases risk for childhood aggression, in a sex-dependent manner.
Highlights
Neurobiological models of persistent antisocial behaviours in children propose a prominent role for low physiological arousal leading to failures to inhibit aggressive behaviour, greater sensation seeking, and reduced effects of punishment[1,2]
Computation of physical aggression outcome The factor loadings for the mother and teacher aggression items on the single aggression latent variable are shown in Supplementary Table 2 for the extensive sample
In a longitudinal general population sample with cortisol reactivity to a social stressor, CU traits and child aggression assessed at age 5 years, the highest levels of aggression at age 7 years were predicted by the combination of high CU traits and low cortisol reactivity
Summary
Neurobiological models of persistent antisocial behaviours in children propose a prominent role for low physiological arousal leading to failures to inhibit aggressive behaviour, greater sensation seeking, and reduced effects of punishment[1,2]. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are thought to be associated with failures to inhibit aggression and reduced punishment learning, via mechanisms that implicate reduced amygdala activation to distress in others[3,4]. Using cortisol reactivity to hearing a recorded argument between adults as the index of physiological arousal, we set out to test the hypothesis that the association between CU traits and aggression would be strengthened in the presence of low cortisol reactivity in boys but not girls[11,12].
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