Environmental Predictors of Within-Person Changes in Callous-Unemotional Traits among Justice-Involved Male Adolescents

Abstract

ABSTRACT Objective Youth who display elevated callous-unemotional (CU) traits are at risk for negative developmental outcomes. Previous studies demonstrate that environmental conditions contribute to elevated levels of CU traits, but the majority of this work focuses on a single source of environmental influence. To better understand how environmental conditions contribute to changes in CU traits during adolescence, the current study examined the time-varying relation between CU traits, parent, peer, and community conditions. Method Using data from the longitudinal Pathways to Desistance study (N = 1,026 males, Mage = 15.98, SD = 1.16; 40.94% Black, 34.11% Latino, 20.66% White, 4.29% Other), full-factorial fixed effect regression models were implemented to examine how parental hostility, antisocial peers, community violence, and neighborhood disorder are individually and interactively associated with within-person changes in CU traits during adolescence (15–21 years). Results Results indicated that proximal conditions (i.e., negative parenting, antisocial peers) had more consistent associations with CU traits than distal conditions (i.e., neighborhood disorder, community violence). Affiliation with antisocial peers was not significantly related to CU traits when youth were simultaneously exposed to high community violence and low neighborhood disorder. Further, the association between CU traits and impact of living in high disordered, high violence neighborhoods was stronger for younger youth. Conclusion Results indicate that the association among parents, peers, and CU trait development is more nuanced than previously suggested, such that the risk that each environmental condition poses is moderated by a youth’s age and their exposure to distal conditions.