Limited Prosocial Emotions Research Articles

Psychophysiological responses to sadness in girls and boys with conduct disorder.

Reduced responsiveness to emotions is hypothesized to contribute to the development of conduct disorder (CD) in children and adolescents. Accordingly, blunted psychophysiological responses to emotions have been observed in boys with CD, but this has never been tested in girls. Therefore, this study compared psychophysiological responses to sadness in girls and boys with and without CD, and different clinical phenotypes of CD: with versus without limited prosocial emotions (LPE), and with versus without comorbid internalizing disorders (INT). Nine-hundred and 27 girls (427 CD, 500 controls) and 519 boys (266 CD, 253 controls) aged 9-18 years participated. Psychophysiological responses were measured while participants watched two validated sad film clips, specifically: heart rate (HR), respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA; indexing parasympathetic activity), preejection period (PEP; indexing sympathetic activity). Girls and boys with CD showed larger HR responses to sadness than controls. This effect was rendered nonsignificant, however, after controlling for covariates. We observed aberrant RSA responses to sadness in CD compared with controls. Similarly, we found a significant positive association between RSA responsivity and antisocial behavior when assessed dimensionally. The effects were very small, though. Results were similar for boys and girls. We found no evidence for emotional underresponsiveness in CD in the largest psychophysiological study to date in this field. More research is needed to explore whether this is specific to sadness or generalizes to other emotions. Furthermore, we recommend that studies on emotion processing in CD assess different physiological measures to help disentangle CD-related effects on sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).

Utility of the Limited Prosocial Emotions Specifier in Preschoolers With Conduct Problems.

This study examined the clinical utility of the "Limited Prosocial Emotions" (LPE) specifier (i.e., prevalence rates, group differences, and predictive utility) in a high-risk preschool sample (N = 109, M age = 4.77) presenting with conduct problems (CPs; n = 59). First, LPE prevalence rates ranged from 7.7% to 89.8%. Next, few group differences were observed between with CP-only and CP+LPE; youth with CP+LPE differed from youth with CP-only on callous-unemotional (CU) traits and verbal ability, but not on externalizing or internalizing psychopathology, nor on parenting experiences. In the full sample, youth with LPE differed from youth without LPE on externalizing and internalizing psychopathology, parenting, and verbal ability. Finally, LPE predicted greater baseline CP but did not predict trajectories of CP. Findings highlight the clinical utility of the LPE specifier during early childhood and call for a refinement of the LPE specifier to improve its clinical value.

Development of an Empathy Rating Scale for Young Children.

Empathy is critical to young children's socioemotional development and deficient levels characterize a severe and pervasive type of Conduct Disorder (i.e., with limited prosocial emotions). With the emergence of novel, targeted early interventions to treat this psychopathology, the critical limitations of existing parent-report empathy measures reveal their unsuitability for assessing empathy levels and outcomes in young children. The present study aimed to develop a reliable and comprehensive parent-rated empathy scale for young children. This was accomplished by first generating a large list of empathy items sourced from both preexisting empathy measures and from statements made by parents during a clinical interview about their young child's empathy. Second, this item set was refined using exploratory factor analysis of item scores from parents of children aged 2 to 8 years (56.6% male), recruited online using Amazon's Mechanical Turk. A five-factor solution provided the best fit to the data: Attention to Others' Emotions, Personal Distress (i.e., Emotional Contagion/Affective Empathy), Personal Distress-Fictional Characters, Prosocial Behavior, and Sympathy. Total and subscale scores on the new "Measure of Empathy in Early Childhood" (MEEC) were internally consistent. Finally, this five-factor structure was tested using confirmatory factor analysis and model fit was adequate. With further research into the validity of MEEC scores, this new rater-based empathy measure for young children may hold promise for assessing empathy in early childhood and advancing research into the origins of empathy and empathy-related disorders.

Developing Cutoff Scores for the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) in Justice-Involved and Community Samples

ABSTRACT Objective: The recent addition of the callous-unemotional (CU) traits specifier, “with Limited Prosocial Emotions (LPE),” to major classification systems has prompted the need for assessment tools that aid in the identification of elevations on these traits for diagnostic purposes. The goal of the current study was to use and evaluate multiple methods for establishing cutoff scores for the multi-informant questionnaire, the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU). Method: The present study compared the clinical utility of various proposed cutoff methods and scores (i.e., empirically derived cutoffs using receiver operating characteristic (ROC), normative cutoffs, and rational scoring approximations of LPE criteria) in both a longitudinal sample of justice-involved male adolescents (N = 1,216; M age = 15.29, SD = 1.29) and a cross-sectional sample of school children (N = 289; M age = 11.47 years; SD = 2.26). Results: Methods resulted in a range of cutoff scores with substantial diagnostic overlap and validity. Specifically, they designated justice-involved adolescents at risk for later delinquency, aggression, and rearrests, and they designated school children more likely to be rated by parents and teacher as having conduct problems and rated by peers as being rejected and mean. Conclusions: The results lead to ranges of ICU scores that have support for their validity and can help to guide clinical decisions about children and adolescents who may be elevated on CU traits.

Co-developmental Trajectories of Defiant/Headstrong, Irritability, and Prosocial Emotions from Preschool Age to Early Adolescence.

This study ascertains how the proposed subtypes and specifiers of oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) based on irritability and prosocial emotions co-develop and describes the clinical characteristics of the resultant classes. A sample of 488 community children was followed up from ages 3 to 12years and assessed with categorical and dimensional measures answered by parents and teachers. Latent class growth analysis for three parallel processes [defiant/headstrong, irritability, and limited prosocial emotions (LPE)] identified a 4-class model with adequate entropy (.912) and posterior probabilities of class membership (≥ .921). Class 1 (n = 38, 7.9%) was made up of children with defiant/headstrong with chronic irritability and LPE. Class 2 (n = 128, 26.3%) was comprised of children with defiant/headstrong with chronic irritability and typical prosocial emotions. Class 3 (n = 101, 20.7%) clustered children with LPE without defiant/headstrong and without irritability. Class 4 (n = 220, 45.1%) included children with the lowest scores in all the processes. The classes were distinguishable and showed different clinical characteristics through development. These findings support the validity of ICD-11 ODD subtypes based on chronic irritability and may help to guide clinicians' decision-making regarding treating oppositionality in children.

Limited Prosocial Emotions in a Clinical Population of Children and Adolescents: Proposal for Core and Ancillary Characteristics.

Limited prosocial emotions (LPE) has been recently incorporated into international classifications as a specifier for conduct disorder in the DSM-5 and for all disruptive behavioural disorders in the ICD-11. The aims of the current work were to determine (a) the accuracy of each of the characteristics used to assess the LPE specifier and (b) whether the manner in which symptoms group together supports the idea of LPE having core characteristics. Trained clinicians conducted interviews and determined LPE characteristics using responses from 74 parent/guardian and child/adolescent participants. The distribution of LPE characteristics among those participants with LPE (n = 13) was compared to those with only one LPE characteristic (n = 11). The proposal of callous lack of empathy (CLE) and shallow deficient affect (SDA) as core characteristics was supported by strong associations with the presence of the LPE specifier, larger specificity, and sensitivity indices than those for unconcerned about performance and lack of remorse or guilt, as well as by a robust aggregation in a latent class analysis. CLE and SDA could be considered as core characteristics of LPE in children and adolescents.

The Importance of Assessing Impairment Associated With Limited Prosocial Emotions

Limited prosocial emotions (LPE) are characterized by a lack of remorse or guilt, callousness/lack of empathy, being unconcerned about performance, and shallow/deficient affect. While previous research has largely focused on the presence or absence of LPE in youth, there is considerable evidence that symptom presence/absence and symptom impairment are separable dimensions, where impairment often is found to play a significant, unique role in assessing child psychopathology. The current study utilized a newly developed questionnaire with the purpose of exploring its psychometric properties and better understand the dual and potentially differential role LPE symptom presence and LPE-related impairment have in youth. Mothers (n = 265) of children (Mage = 8.04, SD = 2.07) completed questionnaires assessing LPE impairment, LPE symptoms, externalizing disorder symptoms, and functional impairment. Results demonstrated strong support for the psychometric properties of the newly developed measure of LPE impairment. Importantly, LPE-related impairment uniquely predicted all impairment domains above-and-beyond the effects of LPE symptoms, oppositional defiant disorder, and CD symptoms (as well as child age and sex covariates). Moreover, youth in the top 25th percentile on both LPE symptoms and LPE-related impairment (compared to youth only in the top 25th percentile in LPE symptoms) had greater mean externalizing symptoms and functional impairment. The preliminary evidence provided suggests researchers and clinicians may benefit from assessing both LPE symptoms and LPE-related impairment when attempting to identify youth with high levels of conduct problem symptoms and/or psychosocial impairment. Future research should aim to replicate and expand our findings to other clinical populations.

Psychometric Properties and Normative Information on the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory with Ratings for Spanish Children from Parents and Teachers.

Psychometric properties and initial normative information are provided for the sluggish cognitive tempo, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-inattention, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder-hyperactivity/impulsivity, oppositional defiant disorder, callous-unemotional behavior (limited prosocial emotions specifier), anxiety, depression, social impairment, and academic impairment scales of the Spanish Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory. Mothers, fathers, and teachers of 2,142 third to sixth grade Spanish children (49.49% girls; ages 8-13) from randomly selected schools on the Balearic Islands completed the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory. Scores from the scales demonstrated reliability (internal consistency and inter-rater), structural validity, and convergent/discriminant validity with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and learning disorder diagnoses for boys and girls separately for each source. Normative information (T-scores) is provided for the nine scales separately for boys and girls, with test information functions supporting use of the symptom scales for screening purposes. Although more comprehensive Spanish norms are still needed, the initial normative information on the scales should be useful to inform the clinical care of individual Spanish children, with the positive psychometric properties of the scores also supporting the use of the scale for research. Copies of the Spanish Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory and norms are available for free to clinicians and researchers.

The significance of limited prosocial emotions among externalizing disorders in children.

Limited Prosocial Emotion (LPE) specifier of conduct disorder (CD) includes lack of remorse or guilt, callousness/lack of empathy, unconcern about performance, and shallow/deficient affect. Given the relatively recent inclusion of the LPE specifier in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fundamental information is still unknown about LPE, such as how common the different domains are, how much they overlap with one another, whether they predict unique variance from each other, and the potential for the LPE specifier as a transdiagnostic facet of externalizing problems. Caregivers (n = 1,50) of children (Mage = 8.42, SD = 2.31) completed a questionnaire assessing individual LPE domains and measures of externalizing symptoms. Results showed that LPE specifier domains were highly related but separable. All LPEs were uniquely associated with oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), CD, and overall impairment after controlling for other LPE items, child sex, and ADHD symptoms. Being unconcerned about performance, emotionally manipulative, and having shallow/deficient affect were uniquely associated with ADHD while controlling for ODD and CD symptomatology. Our findings fit with the historical conceptualization of LPE as a unidimensional construct and contributes to the growing evidence of the potential utility of assessing LPE across externalizing disorders in children. Future research should look to replicate and extend our findings in clinical samples of youth.

Neuropsychological Subgroups of Emotion Processing in Youths With Conduct Disorder.

Background: At the group level, youths with conduct disorder (CD) show deficient emotion processing across various tasks compared to typically developing controls (TDC). But little is known about neuropsychological subgroups within the CD population, the clinical correlates of emotion processing deficits [for instance, with regard to the presence or absence of the DSM-5 Limited Prosocial Emotions (LPE) specifier], and associated risk factors.Methods: 542 children and adolescents with CD (317 girls) and 710 TDCs (479 girls), aged 9–18 years, were included from the FemNAT-CD multisite study. All participants completed three neuropsychological tasks assessing emotion recognition, emotion learning, and emotion regulation. We used a self-report measure of callous-unemotional traits to create a proxy for the LPE specifier.Results: Relative to TDCs, youths with CD as a group performed worse in all three emotion domains. But using clinically based cut-off scores, we found poor emotion recognition skills in only 23% of the participants with CD, followed by emotion regulation deficits in 18%, and emotion learning deficits in 13% of the CD group. Critically, the majority of youths with CD (~56%) did not demonstrate any meaningful neuropsychological deficit, and only a very small proportion showed pervasive deficits across all three domains (~1%). Further analyses indicate that established DSM-5 subtypes of CD are not tightly linked to neurocognitive deficits in one particular emotion domain over another (i.e., emotion recognition deficits in CD+LPE vs. emotion regulation deficits in CD–LPE).Conclusions: Findings from this large-scale data set suggest substantial neuropsychological diversity in emotion processing in the CD population and, consequently, only a subgroup of youths with CD are likely to benefit from additional behavioral interventions specifically targeting emotion processing mechanisms.

The DSM-5 Limited Prosocial Emotions Specifier for Conduct Disorder: Comorbid Problems, Prognosis, and Antecedents

A limited prosocial emotions (LPE) subtype of conduct disorder (CD) has been added to the DSM-5. Empirical studies on this categorically defined subtype are scarce, and existing work is predominantly cross-sectional. Hypotheses surrounding the LPE subtype that relate to comorbidity, prognosis, and developmental antecedents, and overlap with psychopathic personality, have received no or little scrutiny. These knowledge gaps were addressed in a community sample of 1,839 children 8 to 10 years of age who were enrolled in the study in early childhood (age 3-5 years) and were followed up in early adolescence (age 11-13 years). Parents and teachers completed questionnaires that tap theoretically and clinically relevant features. Children with the LPE subtype exhibited more CD symptoms and comorbid problems, including fearlessness, and symptoms of oppositional defiant disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. These children were also at higher risk for future CD symptoms at the 3-year follow-up. Additionally, fearlessness, callous-unemotional traits, interpersonal traits, and harsh parenting assessed in early childhood were identified as developmental antecedents of the LPE subtype. Findings tentatively suggest that the LPE subtype is a heterogeneous group differentiated on other psychopathic personality traits. The LPE subtype appears to identify a troubled, etiologically distinct group of children with conduct problems who are at heightened risk for future maladjustment. Findings can inform the underlying mechanisms related to the LPE subtype, and can lead to the development and improvement of prevention and intervention programs for children with conduct problems.

Psychometric Properties of Parent Ratings on the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits in a Nationally Representative Sample of 5- to 12-Year-Olds.

The psychometric properties of the parent-report version of the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) in school-aged children requires further examination. In a nationally representative sample of U.S. children (N = 1,064, M age = 8.42, 51.7% boys), the current study examined the factor structure, measurement invariance, and the moderating role of parent rated ICU scores on conduct problems. Results supported (a) a two-factor model consisting of a CU factor and a limited prosocial emotions (LPE) factor; (b) an invariant structure of the ICU across child sex, as well as (to a lesser extent) across child age and parent sex; and (c) the moderating role of the LPE factor on the relationship between conduct problems and relevant outcomes (i.e., impairment, need for treatment). Normative data on the parent-report version of the ICU for elementary-aged school children in the United States were also presented. Clinical implications regarding use of the parent-report version of the ICU for school-aged children are discussed.

Psychometric Properties of a Semistructured Interview to Assess Limited Prosocial Emotions

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have recently been added to the diagnostic criteria of Conduct Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-Fifth edition and of conduct-dissocial and oppositional defiant disorders in the International Classification of Disease-Eleventh edition as the limited prosocial emotions specifier. This change necessitates the assessment of these traits with validated measures in both research and clinical contexts. The current study sought to validate a semi-structured diagnostic interview method, the Michigan Limited Prosocial Emotion Addendum (M-LPE) to the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children-Present and Lifetime Version, of assessing CU traits based on a recently developed clinician rating system (Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions, Version 1.1) in a sample of at-risk youth. Results supported the interrater reliability of the M-LPE with moderate agreement and high reliability between raters. The M-LPE demonstrated convergent and incremental validity with CU traits and various measures of antisocial behavior. The results provide preliminary evidence for the use of a semi-structured interview assessment of CU traits in research contexts and build the foundation for further validation.

Neural processing of socioemotional content in conduct-disordered juvenile offenders with limited prosocial emotions

BackgroundReflecting evidence on Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of empathy and guilt, shallow affect), the DSM-5 added a categorical CU-based specifier for Conduct Disorder (CD), labeled ‘with Limited Prosocial Emotions’ (LPE). Theory and prior work suggest that CD youths with and without LPE will likely differ in neural processing of negative socioemotional content. This proposition, however, is mainly derived from studies employing related, yet distinct, operationalizations of CU traits (e.g., dimensional measure/median split/top quartile), thus precluding direct examination of LPE-specific neurocognitive deficits. MethodsEmploying a DSM-5 informed LPE proxy, neural processing of recognizing and resonating negative socioemotional content (angry and fearful faces) was therefore examined here among CD offenders with LPE (CD/LPE+; N = 19), relative to CD offenders without LPE (CD/LPE-; N = 31) and healthy controls (HC; N = 31). ResultsRelative to HC and CD/LPE- youths and according to a linearly increasing trend (CD/LPE- < HC < CD/LPE+), CD/LPE+ youths exhibited hyperactivity within dorsolateral, dorsomedial, and ventromedial prefrontal regions during both emotion recognition and resonance. During emotion resonance, CD/LPE+ youths additionally showed increased activity within the posterior cingulate and precuneal cortices in comparison to HC and CD/LPE- youths, which again followed a linearly increasing trend (CD/LPE- < HC < CD/LPE+). These effects moreover seemed specific to the LPE specifier, when compared to a commonly employed method for CU-based grouping in CD (i.e., median split on CU scores). ConclusionsThese data cautiously suggest that CD/LPE+ youths may exhibit an over-reliance on cortical neurocognitive systems when explicitly processing negative socioemotional information, which could have adverse downstream effects on relevant socioemotional functions. The findings thus seem to provide novel, yet preliminary, clues on the neurocognitive profile of CD/LPE+, and additionally highlight the potential scientific utility of the LPE specifier.

Callous-Unemotional Traits and Risk of Gun Carrying and Use During Crime.

With the addition of the "with limited prosocial emotions" specifier within the diagnosis of conduct disorder (DSM-5) and of conduct-dissocial disorder (ICD-11) to designate those with elevated callous-unemotional traits, the authors examined the role that callous-unemotional traits play in the risk for gun carrying and gun use during a crime in a sample at high risk for gun violence. Male juvenile offenders (N=1,215) from three regions of the United States were assessed after their first arrest and then reassessed every 6 months for 36 months and again at 48 months. Callous-unemotional traits and peer gun carrying and ownership were measured via self-report after the first arrest (i.e., baseline). Gun carrying and use of a gun during a crime were self-reported at all follow-up points. Callous-unemotional traits at baseline increased the frequency of gun carrying and the likelihood of using a gun during a crime across the subsequent 4 years after accounting for other risk factors. Furthermore, callous-unemotional traits moderated the relationship between peer gun carrying and ownership and participant gun carrying, such that only participants low on callous-unemotional traits demonstrated increased gun carrying as a function of their peers' gun carrying and ownership. This study demonstrates the importance of considering callous-unemotional traits in gun violence research both because callous-unemotional traits increase gun carrying and use in adolescents and because the traits may moderate other key risk factors. Notably, the influence of peer gun carrying and ownership may have been underestimated in past research for the majority of adolescents by not considering the moderating influence of callous-unemotional traits.

Initial Investigation of the Psychometric Properties of the Limited Prosocial Emotions Questionnaire (LPEQ).

Callous-unemotional traits, which include lack of remorse or guilt, callousness/lack of empathy, unconcern about performance, and shallow/deficient affect, were included as a specifier of conduct disorder in the current (fifth) edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders under the rubric Limited Prosocial Emotions (LPEs). The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of a new rating scale, the Limited Prosocial Emotions Questionnaire (LPEQ). Caregivers (n = 1,050) of children (Mage = 8.42, SD = 2.31) completed the LPEQ and other measures. Results provide support for a single factor model of the LPEQ, with measurement invariance supported across child and informant sex. Both the reliability and validity of the LPEQ as a measure of LPEs were also well supported. Children identified with LPE had significantly greater average impairment and need for treatment relative to children without LPE. Children with conduct problems (i.e., conduct disorder or oppositional defiant disorder), as well those without conduct problems, had significantly more impairment if they were identified as having LPE. Our findings fit with the mounting evidence of the clinical utility of assessing LPEs in children. Future research should look to replicate our findings in clinical samples of youth.

Psychometric Properties of the Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions: Version 1.1 (CAPE 1.1) in Young Males Who Were Incarcerated

The Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions: Version 1.1 (CAPE 1.1) uses structured clinical judgments to diagnose the “with limited prosocial emotions” specifier for Conduct Disorder. This study examined (a) the internal consistency and interrater agreement, and (b) the convergent and divergent validity of the CAPE 1.1 in 72 young males who were incarcerated in two Spanish juvenile detention centers (age range = 14–22 years). The CAPE 1.1 showed good interrater agreement for making the diagnosis of the specifier and adequate internal consistency. The CAPE 1.1 was associated with other measures of callous–unemotional traits, but less consistently associated with other dimensions of psychopathy. Youth who met diagnostic criteria for the specifier scored higher on externalizing problems, but did not differ from other youth who were incarcerated on internalizing problems. These results provide preliminary support for the psychometric properties of the CAPE 1.1 for the clinical assessment of the specifier.

Clinical Utility of the Limited Prosocial Emotions Specifier in the Childhood-Onset Subtype of Conduct Disorder.

Clinicians may specify the diagnosis of conduct disorder (CD) as "with limited prosocial emotions" (LPE). This specifier is thought to identify youths with particularly severe and stable symptomatology. However, few studies have examined the clinical usefulness of the LPE specifier among children with childhood-onset CD. The current study examines whether the LPE specifier distinguishes children with particularly severe and persistent symptoms among those with childhood-onset CD. The study also aims to test whether the LPE specifier aids in identifying children with subclinical CD whose conduct problems are at risk of increasing. Two hundred sixty-four children showing at least one CD symptom before age 10 were divided based on the presence of CD and the specifier. Children with and without the specifier were compared on number of CD symptoms (assessed at study inception) and trajectory of conduct problems (assessed over 4 years). The analyses controlled for oppositional defiant and attention deficit hyperactivity symptomatology. Compared with children with CD but without LPE, children with CD and the LPE specifier did not differ on likelihood of endorsing most symptoms nor on total numbers of symptoms. Moreover, they did not show a more stable pattern of conduct problems across the 4 years. Children with subclinical CD with and without the LPE specifier were also similar in terms of their symptoms, severity, and evolution of their problems. Among youths with childhood-onset CD, the specifier appears to offer limited value in identifying those with particularly severe and stable CD symptomatology.

Association of Foster Care and its Duration with Clinical Symptoms and Impairment: Foster Care versus Non-Foster Care Comparisons with Spanish Children

ObjectiveThe objective was to determine if Spanish foster care children and Spanish non-foster children differ on sluggish cognitive tempo (SCT), ADHD-inattention (IN), ADHD-hyperactivity/impulsivity (HI), oppositional defiant disorder (ODD), limited prosocial emotions (LPE), anxiety, depression, social and academic impairment measures and if the duration of foster care predicts a reduction in symptom and impairment differences between foster and non-foster care children.MethodFoster care parents of 49 children (8 to 13 years, 57% girls) and non-foster care mothers and fathers of 1776 children (8 to 13 years, 49% girls) completed the Child and Adolescent Behavior Inventory (CABI).ResultsFoster care children had significantly higher scores on all symptom and impairment measures than non-foster care mother and father groups (d values from 0.37 to 1.53). A longer duration in foster care (range 8 to 86 months) was also associated with significant lower scores on SCT, ADHD-IN, anxiety, depression, and academic impairment. In addition, while foster care children with a shorter duration in foster care (less than medium months) had significantly higher scores than the non-foster care groups on all measures (d values from 0.66 to 2.25), children with a longer duration in foster care did not differ from the non-foster care groups on anxiety, depression, ADHD-IN, ADHD-HI, LPE, social and academic impairment.ConclusionsAlthough foster care children had elevated psychopathology and impairment scores relative to non-foster care children, a longer stay in foster care was associated with the elimination of the difference on most symptom and impairment measures.

Not Just for Adults: Using the Triarchic Model of Psychopathy to Inform Developmental Models of Conduct Problems in Adolescence

The triarchic model of psychopathy was advanced to reconcile differing historic conceptions of this condition and alternative approaches for assessing it. The current study was undertaken to expand the empirical evidence base for the triarchic model by examining its correlates in adolescents, with measures of particular relevance to developmental theories of antisocial behavior. Self-report scales assessing the triarchic constructs were administered along with measures of conduct problems, callous-unemotional traits, attachment style dimensions, negative emotionality, and hyperactivity/inattention to 608 Italian adolescents (272 girls; M age = 16.70 years). The disinhibition dimension of the triarchic model was related most highly to general externalizing outcomes, such as conduct problems and hyperactivity-inattention, in this adolescent sample. The meanness dimension was selectively related to callous-unemotional traits and other measures of limited prosocial emotions and to affiliation motives that emphasize social gain. Triarchic boldness was associated with greater emotional stability and greater confidence in peer relationships. Of interest, an interaction between meanness and boldness was evident in predicting a lower need to understand one’s own and others’ emotions. These results provide a valuable illustration of the potential of the triarchic model to help advance developmental models of antisocial behavior in youth. Public Significance Statement This study examined how dimensions of psychopathy described by the triarchic model relate to measures of problem behaviors and affective-interpersonal style in an adolescent sample. Scores on the three triarchic dimensions—disinhibition, meanness, and boldness—showed meaningful contrasting relations with conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, callous-unemotional traits, emotional proclivities, and attachment style dimensions. This work illustrates how the triarchic model conceptualization can help advance developmental models of the emergence of antisocial behavior.