The Influence of Antisocial Behavior and Callous-Unemotional Traits on Trajectories of School Engagement and Achievement in South-Korean Children

Suhlim Hwang,Rebecca Waller,Jennifer L Allen,David J Hawes

doi:10.1007/s10964-021-01414-2

Abstract

Poor educational outcomes are common among children with antisocial behavior problems, including among a subgroup of antisocial children with callous-unemotional traits, who show deficits in empathy, guilt, and prosociality. However, few studies have explored the unique contributions of antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits to school outcomes and most prior studies have been conducted in Western countries. The current study thus tested associations between callous-unemotional traits, antisocial behavior, and trajectories of school outcomes among South Korean children. Participants aged 10-12 years (N = 218; 52% boys) completed questionnaires assessing antisocial behavior, callous-unemotional traits, verbal ability, and school engagement, and teachers provided children’s Math and Korean grades at three time points during a single academic year. Prospective associations were explored in conditional latent growth curve models. Both antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits were related to lower school engagement at the start of the academic year, but the magnitude of the associations was greater for callous-unemotional traits, suggesting a greater adverse effect of callous-unemotional traits on engagement than antisocial behavior. Moreover, children with high levels of callous-unemotional traits showed stable and low levels of school engagement. There were no significant predictive associations between antisocial behavior or callous-unemotional traits and trajectories of academic grades. The findings suggest that interventions aimed at improving educational outcomes among antisocial children should be tailored according to the presence of callous-unemotional traits to target the specific needs of individual students, particularly at the start of the school year.

Highlights

Childhood antisocial behavior is associated with poor educational outcomes that harm children’s adaptive functioning, including poor quality teacher and peer relationships, bullying, truancy, and academic underachievement (McLeod et al, 2012)
Prior work had yet to fully identify the unique role of CU traits on trajectories of poor school outcomes when accounting for verbal ability and antisocial behavior
The current study addressed these limitations by examining the unique association between callous-unemotional traits and antisocial behavior in predicting school engagement and academic grades trajectories during early adolescence

Summary

Introduction

Childhood antisocial behavior is associated with poor educational outcomes that harm children’s adaptive functioning, including poor quality teacher and peer relationships, bullying, truancy, and academic underachievement (McLeod et al, 2012). Antisocial behavior, academic difficulties, and school disengagement constitute major risk factors for later maladjustment, including early school dropout, engagement in criminal offending, and unemployment (Doll et al, 2012). Very few studies have explored callousunemotional traits in relation to school engagement or academic outcomes, despite clear potential implications for school-based interventions that could disrupt risky pathways to antisocial behavior (Tyler et al, 2019). This study addresses this gap by investigating the influence of callousunemotional traits and antisocial behavior on trajectories of academic grades and school engagement in South Korean children over an academic year

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