High Levels Of Callous-unemotional Traits Research Articles

Amygdala Response to Preattentive Masked Fear in Children With Conduct Problems: The Role of Callous-Unemotional Traits

In children with conduct problems, high levels of callous-unemotional traits are associated with amygdala hypoactivity to consciously perceived fear, while low levels of callous-unemotional traits may be associated with amygdala hyperactivity. Behavioral data suggest that fear processing deficits in children with high callous-unemotional traits may extend to stimuli presented below conscious awareness (preattentively). The authors investigated the neural basis of this effect. Amygdala involvement was predicted on the basis of its role in preattentive affective processing in healthy adults and its dysfunction in previous studies of conduct problems. Functional MRI was used to measure neural responses to fearful and calm faces presented preattentively (for 17 ms followed by backward masking) in boys with conduct problems and high callous-unemotional traits (N=15), conduct problems and low callous-unemotional traits (N=15), and typically developing comparison boys (N=16). Amygdala response to fearful and calm faces was predicted to differentiate groups, with the greatest response in boys with conduct problems and low callous-unemotional traits and the lowest in boys with conduct problems and high callous-unemotional traits. In the right amygdala, a greater amygdala response was seen in boys with conduct problems and low callous-unemotional traits than in those with high callous-unemotional traits. The findings were not explained by symptom levels of conduct disorder, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety, or depression. These data demonstrate differential amygdala activity to preattentively presented fear in children with conduct problems grouped by callous-unemotional traits, with high levels associated with lower amygdala reactivity. The study's findings complement increasing evidence suggesting that callous-unemotional traits are an important specifier in the classification of children with conduct problems.

Throwing Caution to the Wind: Callous-Unemotional Traits and Risk Taking in Adolescents

Developmental research suggests that adolescents may be highly influenced by their peers to take risks. Although youths with callous-unemotional (CU) traits engage in high-risk behaviors in the form of antisocial behavior and aggression, little is known about their decision making, particularly when their peers are present. Youths high on CU traits may be most susceptible to influence, especially when rewards are involved, or they may be highly rational relative to their low CU peers and less susceptible to social peer pressures. The present study used a gambling task with 675 youths (female n = 348), ages 16 to 20 years (M = 16.9, SD = .8). The majority were White British (64%). We experimentally manipulated whether youths made decisions in groups with peers or individually. All members of the group reported on their CU traits. Using multilevel modeling to control for group-level effects, youths with higher levels of CU traits were found to be less sensitive to accruing rewards on the gambling task than youths low on these traits. When in groups, male participants with higher levels of CU traits made quicker decisions to take risks than male participants lower on CU traits, particularly after punishment. Youths with CU traits are distinct in showing a lack of emotion and this may facilitate heightened rationality in responding to rewards. However, results suggest that male adolescents who are high on CU traits may react to the possible frustration of losing by attempting to gain back rewards quickly when their peers are watching.

Attachment and callous‐unemotional traits in children with early‐onset conduct problems

Antisocial children with callous-unemotional (CU) traits appear to be disconnected from other people's emotions; although little is known about their experience of the parent-child emotional bond. This study examined parent-child attachment relationships and levels of CU traits in conduct-problem children. Attachment classifications in boys (M = 6.31 years) with disruptive behaviour disorders were assessed using the Manchester Child Attachment Story Task. Multiple informants rated children's CU traits. Independent of severity of conduct problems, high levels of CU traits were associated with more insecure attachment; specifically, disorganised attachment representations; however, CU traits were not associated with avoidant representations. Among conduct-problem children, those higher on CU traits appear to be at increased risk of experiencing disruptions in parent-child attachment relationships; attachment may be an important area for treatment and prevention efforts for CU traits in young children.

Parenting Behavior and Conduct Problems in Children with and Without Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Moderation by Callous-Unemotional Traits

There is evidence that negative parenting positively predicts oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) and conduct disorder (CD) and that children’s callous-unemotional (CU) traits may moderate this association. However, it is largely unknown if CU traits show similar interactive effects with positive parenting for ODD/CD. 208 ethnically diverse (56% Caucasian) 6–9 year-old children with and without attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were ascertained using multiple methods and informants for ODD, CD, and CU traits. CU traits, corporal punishment, positive parenting, and each of their interactions with CU traits were unrelated to parent- and teacher-rated ODD. Corporal punishment and CU traits were similarly unrelated to parent- and teacher-rated CD. However, positive parenting inversely predicted parent-reported CD symptoms and it was significantly moderated by CU traits. Positive parenting was negatively associated with CD at low to moderate levels of CU traits, but it was unrelated to CD at high levels of CU traits. Children with elevated levels of CU traits exhibited significantly higher levels of CD symptoms that were largely independent of positive parenting behavior. We discuss these findings within a developmental psychopathology framework to provide further perspectives on reciprocal influences between parenting behavior and CU traits in the development of ODD and CD.

Evidence for deficits in reward responsivity in antisocial youth with callous-unemotional traits.

This study investigated reward responsivity in youth with high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits using a cross-sectional design. Whereas deficits in responding to punishment cues are well established in youth with CU traits, it is unclear whether responsivity to rewarding stimuli is impaired as well. Participants were 148 predominantly Caucasian, adjudicated adolescents between the ages of 11 and 17 (M = 15.1, SD = 1.4) who completed the Balloon Analogue Risk Task as part of a larger battery investigating aggression and social information processing. A Reward Responsivity variable was created to capture changes in participants' responding after receiving a reward. A hierarchical regression analysis indicated that higher levels of CU traits significantly predicted less reward responsivity, above and beyond gender, sensation seeking, and impulsivity. Results support Blair's (2004) Integrated Emotion Systems model that proposes individuals with CU traits are impaired in their responsivity to both appetitive and aversive stimuli.

Moral Emotions, Emotion Self-Regulation, Callous-Unemotional Traits, and Problem Behavior in Children of Incarcerated Mothers

Children with incarcerated mothers are at high risk for developing problem behaviors. Fifty children (6–12 years; 62% girls) participated in summer camps, along with adult mentors. Regression analyses of child and adult measures of child’s emotion self-regulation and callous-unemotional traits, and a child measure of moral emotions, showed that poor emotion regulation, along with low levels of guilt and high levels of shame, predicted children’s externalizing behaviors, while only low levels of guilt predicted a unique subset of child characteristics called callous-unemotional traits. Children who experienced healthy guilt for misdeeds were better able to control their behavior. Adults noted the ability of children with callous/unemotional traits to manage and regulate their emotions, while poor emotion regulation was more predictive of the cluster of externalizing problems. Discussion focuses on prevention efforts aimed at teaching emotion self-regulation and the implications of the high levels of callous-unemotional traits in this population of children.

Cortisol, callous-unemotional traits, and pathways to antisocial behavior

Two decades of research has implicated the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis in the development of antisocial behavior in children. However, findings regarding the association between cortisol and antisocial behavior have been largely inconsistent, and the role of the HPA axis in relation to broader etiological processes remains unclear. We examine evidence that the role of the HPA axis in the development of antisocial behavior may differ across subgroups of children. A meta-analysis has supported the prediction that low levels of cortisol are associated with risk for childhood antisocial behavior, but the relationship is weaker than previously assumed. Recent studies suggest the association between cortisol levels and antisocial behavior may vary depending on type of antisocial behavior, patterns of internalizing comorbidity, and early environmental adversity. The findings are consistent with evidence that two early-onset pathways to antisocial behavior can be distinguished based on the presence or absence of callous-unemotional traits. We speculate that early adversity is important to the development of chronic antisocial behavior in children with low levels of callous-unemotional traits and HPA-axis hyperactivity, but that high levels of callous-unemotional traits and HPA-axis hypoactivity characterize a particularly severe subgroup, for whom antisocial behavior develops somewhat independently of adversity.

The contribution of callous‐unemotional traits and conduct problems to bullying in early adolescence

Although a lot is known about the association of conduct problems with bullying, less attention has been paid to co-occurring traits, such as callous-unemotional (CU) traits that might additionally contribute to the risk of engaging in bullying. This study investigated the contribution of CU traits to direct and indirect bullying, alongside the contributions made by conduct problems and gender. Seven hundred and four 11-13-year-olds completed self-report measures of callous-emotional traits and psychopathology, including conduct problems. Peer-report measures of direct and indirect bullying were collected from classmates. Higher levels of CU traits were associated with higher levels of direct bullying, over and above the association between bullying and conduct problems. Conduct problems and CU traits interacted in the prediction of both direct and indirect bullying. In line with previous research, males were more likely to engage in direct and females in indirect bullying. This study highlights the importance of viewing CU traits and conduct problems, not only as related phenomena, but also as distinct entities in mediating the underlying susceptibility of children to bully others directly. Furthermore, a combination of these traits appears to be a particularly potent risk factor for both direct and indirect bullying. Implications for intervention are discussed, in particular the concern that lack of empathy and insensitivity to punishment in those with CU traits may also make them particularly resistant to current forms of bullying intervention.

Linking Callous-Unemotional Traits to Instrumental and Non-Instrumental Forms of Aggression

The current study investigated the relation of callous-unemotional (CU) traits to bullying, victimization, and proactive and reactive aggression. We also examined whether CU traits will be more strongly related to groups of children exhibiting combined or pure forms of proactive and reactive aggression and combined or pure forms of bullying and victimization. The findings suggested that the presence of CU traits, which consists of three dimensions of behavior, uncaring, callousness, and unemotional, may designate important subgroups of aggressive children. Evidence suggested that the adolescents characterized by higher levels of CU traits were more likely to exhibit combined proactive and reactive aggression in comparison to pure forms of proactive or reactive aggression. Additionally, bullies scored higher on the uncaring dimension, and bully-victims (adolescents exhibiting both bullying and victimization) scored higher on the callous dimension. In contrast, victims of bullying scored lower on the uncaring dimension of behavior.

Emotional processing in children with conduct problems and callous/unemotional traits

A considerable body of evidence now suggests that conduct problem (CP) children with callous/unemotional (CU) traits differ in many ways from CP children without these characteristics. Previous research has suggested that there are important differences for youth with CP and CU characteristics in their ability to process emotional information. The current study investigated the ability of children with disruptive behaviour disorders to label emotional faces and stories. Participants (aged 7-12) were involved in a summer day treatment and research programme for children with disruptive behaviour problems. Two tasks were administered that were designed to measure participant's ability to recognize and label facial expressions of emotion, as well as their ability to label emotions in hypothetical situations. Results indicated that children with higher levels of CU traits, regardless of whether they had elevated CP scores, were less accurate in identifying sad facial expressions. Interestingly, children with higher CU scores were more accurate in labelling fear than were children with lower CU scores, while children with high CP but low CU traits were less accurate than other children in interpreting fearful facial emotions. Further, children's recognition of various emotional vignettes was not associated with CP, CU traits or their interaction. The current study demonstrated that it was the combination of CP and a high number of CU traits that differentiated emotional attributions. Consistent with previous research, youth with CU traits had more difficulty in identifying sad facial expressions. However, contrasting with some previous studies, higher CU traits were associated with more accurate perceptions of fearful expressions. It is possible that there is something specific to fear recognition for individuals with more psychopathic, CU traits that actually make them more successful for observing or recognizing fearful expressions. Additional research is needed to clarify both the recognition and processing of fear expression in CP children with and without CU.