Antisocial behaviour in children with and without callous-unemotional traits

Viding, Essi; Fontaine, Nathalie; McCrory, Eamon

doi:10.1258/jrsm.2011.110223

Cited by 101 publications

(95 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Disruptions in perceptions of threat are common in conduct disorder and ODD. (64, 65) This is primarily true for cases in which symptoms are associated with negative developmental environments but not genetic risk or callous-unemotional traits. (66) It is possible that persistent threat appraisals paired with low confidence in one’s capabilities and dysregulated physiological responses increase risk for reactive forms of aggression.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Maltreatment and Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity

McLaughlin

Sheridan

Alves

et al. 2014

Psychosomatic Medicine

123

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OBJECTIVE Disruptions in stress response system development have been posited as mechanisms linking child maltreatment (CM) to psychopathology. Existing theories predict elevated sympathetic nervous system (SNS) reactivity following CM, but evidence for this is inconsistent. We present a novel framework for conceptualizing stress reactivity following CM using the biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat. We predicted that in the context of a social-evaluative stressor, maltreated adolescents would exhibit a threat pattern of reactivity, involving SNS activation paired with elevated vascular resistance and blunted cardiac output (CO) reactivity. METHODS A sample of 168 adolescents (mean age=14.9 years) participated. Recruitment targeted maltreated adolescents; 38.2% qualified as maltreated. Electrocardiogram, impedance cardiography, and blood pressure were acquired at rest and during an evaluated social stressor (Trier Social Stress Test). Pre-ejection period (PEP), CO, and total peripheral resistance (TPR) reactivity were computed during task preparation, speech-delivery, and verbal mental-arithmetic. Internalizing and externalizing symptoms were assessed. RESULTS Maltreatment was unrelated to PEP reactivity during preparation or speech, but maltreated adolescents had reduced PEP reactivity during math. Maltreatment exposure (F(1,145)=3.8-9.4, p=.053-<.001) and severity (β=−.10-.12, p=.030-.007) were associated with significantly reduced CO reactivity during all components of the stress-task and marginally associated with elevated TPR reactivity (F(1,145)=3.8-9.4, p=.053-<.001; β=.07-.11, p=.11-.009, respectively). Threat reactivity was negatively associated with externalizing symptoms. CONCLUSIONS Child maltreatment is associated with a dysregulated pattern of physiological reactivity consistent with theoretical conceptualizations of threat but not previously examined in relation to maltreatment, suggesting a more nuanced pattern of stress reactivity than predicted by current theoretical models.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Child Maltreatment and Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity

McLaughlin

Sheridan

Alves

et al. 2014

Psychosomatic Medicine

123

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“…Callous-unemotional traits, characterized by low empathy, callousness, and low interpersonal emotions, identify youth with severe, chronic, and stable antisocial behavior (8). Studies demonstrating distinct neural correlates and higher heritability of antisocial behavior in the presence of callous-unemotional traits suggest different etiological pathways to antisocial behavior with, versus without, callous-unemotional traits (9-11). However, as most research on callous-unemotional traits has focused on late childhood and adolescence, we know little about the developmental origins of callous-unemotional traits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heritable and Nonheritable Pathways to Early Callous-Unemotional Behaviors

Hyde

Waller

Trentacosta

et al. 2016

AJP

138

136

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Objective Callous-unemotional behaviors in early childhood identify children at high risk for severe trajectories of antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits that culminate in later diagnoses of conduct disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and psychopathy. Studies have demonstrated high heritability of callous-unemotional traits, but little research has examined specific heritable pathways to earlier callous-unemotional behaviors. Additionally, studies indicate that positive parenting protects against the development of callous-unemotional traits, but genetically informed designs have not been used to confirm that these relationships are not the product of gene-environment correlations. Method Using an adoption cohort of 561 families, biological mothers reported their history of severe antisocial behavior. Observations of adoptive mother positive reinforcement at 18 months were examined as predictors of callous-unemotional behaviors when children were 27 months old. Results Biological mother antisocial behavior predicted early callous-unemotional behaviors despite having no or limited contact with offspring. Adoptive mother positive reinforcement protected against early callous-unemotional behaviors in children not genetically related to the parent. High levels of adoptive mother positive reinforcement buffered the effects of heritable risk for callous-unemotional behaviors posed by biological mother antisocial behavior. Conclusions The findings elucidate heritable and non-heritable pathways to early callous-unemotional behaviors. The results provide a specific heritable pathway to callous-unemotional behaviors and compelling evidence that parenting is an important non-heritable factor in the development of callous-unemotional behaviors. As positive reinforcement buffered heritable risk for callous-unemotional behaviors, these findings have important translational implications for the prevention of trajectories to serious antisocial behavior.

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“…Adolescents with conduct problems and callous-unemotional traits show less amygdala responsiveness to fearful faces (but not other emotional expressions) compared to healthy controls [72][73][74][75] and compared to children with conduct problems but low CU traits [76]. Functional imaging studies of children and adolescents have also found youths with both conduct problems and either psychopathic traits exhibit lower right amygdala activity during an afective theory of mind task [77].…”

Section: Neurobiological Factorsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Development of Psychopathy from Childhood

Uytun¹

2017

Psychopathy - New Updates on an Old Phenomenon

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Serious conduct problems are a serious mental health and public policy concern. Such conduct problems are highly related to criminal behavior and are associated with a host of other social, emotional, and academic problems. In addition, serious conduct problems in childhood predict later impairments in the domains of mental health, legal, educational, social, occupational, and physical health. In the past two decades, a signiicant body of research has emerged reining how the key features associated with psychopathy may be expressed in children and adolescents. These researches have focused largely on the presence of callous-unemotional traits, which correspond closely to the afective dimension of psychopathy-core to the construct in adult samples. Several reviews have focused on important theoretical questions related to how best to identify psychopathy in children and adolescents but do not directly address their importance for understanding, classifying, and treating youths with severe conduct problems. So, in the forefront of these studies, I aimed to review the development of psychopathy from childhood. In this chapter, topics related to psychopathy, such as diagnosis and nosology, epidemiologic studies, etiologic factors, assessment, diagnostic interviews, comorbid disorders and longitudinal outcome, treatment modalities, and treatment outcome in samples of children and adolescents, were included.

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Antisocial behaviour in children with and without callous-unemotional traits

Cited by 101 publications

References 36 publications

Child Maltreatment and Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity

Child Maltreatment and Autonomic Nervous System Reactivity

Heritable and Nonheritable Pathways to Early Callous-Unemotional Behaviors

Development of Psychopathy from Childhood

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