Perceptions of aggressive conflicts and others' distress in children with callous-unemotional traits: 'I'll show you who's boss, even if you suffer and I get in trouble'

Background: Children with callous‐unemotional (CU) traits may have a particularly malevolent view of social conflicts and a pervasive insensitivity to others’ distress. The current study examined whether children with CU traits have unique expectations and values regarding the consequences of aggressive conflicts and a ubiquitous lack of concern for others’ feelings independent of co‐occurring aggression. Methods: Participants were 96 (46 males, 50 females) children recruited from elementary schools within an urban city. Associations between CU traits and child reports of outcome expectancies/values following aggressive conflicts and facets of empathy were examined after controlling for aggression, academic abilities, and demographic covariates. Results: Children with higher CU traits were less likely to expect that aggression would result in victim suffering and feelings of remorse. After controlling for co‐occurring aggression, children with higher CU traits were more likely to expect that aggression would result in peer dominance, while children with higher levels of aggression were more likely to expect that attacking others would reduce their aversive behavior. Children with higher CU traits were less concerned that aggressive behavior would result in punishment, victim suffering, and feelings of remorse. Moreover, children with higher CU traits reported lower levels of empathetic concern and sadness in response to others’ distress outside of aggressive conflicts. Conclusions: Children with CU traits tend to minimize the extent to which aggression causes victim suffering and openly acknowledge caring less about distress and suffering in others. They are less intimidated by the possibility of being punished for aggressive behavior and tend to view aggression as an effective means for dominating others. In sum, children with CU traits have a particularly malicious social schema that may be difficult to change using conventional treatment methods.     

The impact of prenatal maternal risk, fearless temperament and early parenting on adolescent callous-unemotional traits: a 14-year longitudinal investigation

Objective: Proposals have been submitted to the DSM‐V for the addition of a callous‐unemotional (CU) specifier for conduct problem (CP) youth (CP/CU). While the addition of such a diagnostic category may aid in the identification of homogeneous CP subtypes, evidence on risks for the development of CP/CU remains limited. The present study sought to examine the extent to which CP/CU in early adolescence could be differentiated by family‐ and child‐based risks from pregnancy to age 4 years. Method: Using data from approximately 7,000 mothers and their offspring (51% male) participating in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, the authors examined maternal prenatal risks (psychopathology, criminality, substance use), child’s fearless temperament (age 2 years) and harsh and warm parenting (age 4 years) as predictors of CP and CU at age 13; then used follow‐back analyses to explore pre‐ and early post‐natal risks in more detail. Results: Maternal prenatal risks increased fearless temperament and CP and CU. Fearless temperament was also prospectively associated with higher levels of early adolescent CP and CU, above and beyond parenting and prenatal maternal risks. Follow‐back analyses showed fearless temperament in boys manifested as lower response to punishment cues, while for girls this temperament was indexed by boldness toward novel situations and strangers, particularly for CP/CU youth. Conclusions: The current findings suggest that (i) maternal prenatal risks and fearless temperament showed a dose–response relationship with CP and CU (i.e., higher clustering of risks tended to relate to both higher levels and the co‐occurrence of CU with CP), and (ii) intervention programs that aim to improve behavioural outcomes may consider targeting specific temperamental features in both boys and girls.