Empathy in Youths with Conduct Disorder and Callous-Unemotional Traits.

Luca Cerniglia,Emanuela Inguaggiato,Chiara Cristofani,Valentina Levantini,Pietro Muratori,Annarita Milone,Marinella Paciello,Gabriele Masi,Francesca Simone

doi:10.1155/2019/9638973

Abstract

Previous studies indicated that a lack of empathy could be considered the core feature of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in children and adolescents. The present study is aimed at exploring relationships among CU traits, cognitive and emotional dimensions of empathy, emotion recognition (basic, social, and complex emotions), and history of maltreatment in a sample of youths with conduct disorder diagnosis. The sample consisted of 60 Italian male patients (age range 11-17 years, mean age 13.27 ± 1.90 years) referred to the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (Pisa, Italy). In the whole sample, the levels of CU traits were significantly negatively associated with both cognitive and emotional dimensions of empathy; in addition, the CD patients with high levels of CU traits show significantly lower levels of empathic concern compared to those with low levels of CU traits. Clinical implications of the findings are discussed.

Highlights

Empathy is a multidimensional construct whose development begins early in life
One of the aims of our work was to analyze the differences in empathic concern and perspective taking in a clinical sample of conduct disorder (CD) patients subgrouping in CD with or without CU traits
The findings showed a specific impairment of affective empathy in patients with CD and CU traits: they lack in the ability to experience feelings of compassion and concern for people having negative feelings

Summary

Introduction

Empathy is a multidimensional construct whose development begins early in life. Several studies on the development of empathy, indicated that early environments assume an important role in sustaining the neurobiological underpinnings of both cognitive and affective aspects of empathy [1]. Most of previous studies on the relations between early environment and empathy development have not focused on specific components (cognitive and affective) of empathy in isolation, those that have distinguished between cognitive empathy and affective empathy have indicated that sensitive parenting may sustain the development of capacities in both domains [4]. Such caregiving has been found to promote young children’s proclivity to take others’ perspectives and to predict increased empathic concern and perspective taking in adolescence [5]. The implementation of eye gaze/emotional engagement strategies represents one of the targets of some parent training to implement child’s emotional engagement, parent-child interaction, and empathy development

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