Emotional reactivity in referred youth with disruptive behavior disorders: The role of the callous-unemotional traits

Abstract

Deficits in emotional reactivity are frequently reported in Disruptive Behavior Disorders (DBDs). A deficit in prosocial emotions, namely the callous unemotional traits (CU), may be a mediator of emotional reactivity. Our aim is to investigate subjective emotional reactivity towards visual stimuli with different affective valence in youths with DBDs and healthy controls. The clinical sample included 62 youths with DBDs (51 males, 8 to 16 years, mean 11.3±2.1 years), the control group 53 subjects (36 males, 8 to 16 years, mean 10.8±1.5 years). The groups were compared using the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU), and the International Affective Picture System (IAPS), which explores the affective (pleasant/unpleasant emotional reaction) and arousal (low/high intensity of emotion) dimensions. The DBD group presented higher scores in externalizing and internalizing CBCL scores, and in ICU callous and indifferent subscales. At the IAPS, DBD patients differed from controls in the affective valence of the images, rating less unpleasant neutral and negative images. The CU traits were the only predictor of emotional reactivity in the DBD sample. A less aversive way to interpret neutral and negative stimuli may explain why DBD patients are less responsive to negative reinforcements.

Cognitive and Emotional Profiles of CU Traits and Disruptive Behavior in Adolescence: a Prospective Study

“…(Barry et al 2000;Frick et al 2003). In contrast, no longitudinal associations were found between disruptive behaviors and level of self-reported arousal to negative picture, which corroborates reports of nonassociations with arousal in response to empathy provoking stimuli when controlling for CU traits (de Wied et al 2012;Kyranides et al 2016;Masi et al 2014). Still, higher reactivity to negative words in response to violent films has been related to disruptive behavior, controlling for CU traits (Kyranides et al 2016;Loney et al 2003).…”

“…As regards disruptive behaviors, normative or even high arousal to negative stimuli has been indicated. Associations to low autonomic arousal in response to empathy-eliciting film clips have been mainly driven by CU traits, and disruptive behavior disordered and non-disordered youth did not differ in self-reported arousal in response to negative pictures, controlling for CU traits in mixed and adolescent samples (de Wied et al 2012;Masi et al 2014). Furthermore, when taking CU traits into account, disruptive problems have been associated with higher reactivity to negative words, and with higher startle response and higher rated fear in response to violent films in young adult and adolescent samples (Kyranides et al 2016;Loney et al 2003).…”

Conduct disorders and psychopathy in children and adolescents: aetiology, clinical presentation and treatment strategies of callous-unemotional traits

“…vocal) [ 31 ]. Furthermore, it is evident that high CU traits are associated with a less aversive way to interpret neutral and negative stimuli [ 32 ]. It has been suggested that the levels of CU traits are also associated with a generalized impairment in the natural allocation of attention to emotionally salient stimuli that results in cascading errors in recognizing other people’s emotions [ 33 ].…”

Neurobiological, Neuroimaging, and Neuropsychological Studies of Children and Adolescents with Disruptive Behavior Disorders

“…Adolescents with conduct problems, compared to controls, have been consistently described as presenting slower reaction time to negative emotional stimuli (distressing pictures or words) compared to neutral or positive emotional stimuli (pictures or words; Herpers, Scheepers, Bons, Buitelaar, & Rommelse, ). Most recently, Masi and colleagues () investigated emotional reactivity in young individuals with DBDs and tested its relationship with CU traits. They found that participants with DBDs rated both neutral and negative images as less unpleasant than the controls; however, they did not differ from controls in ratings of positive images.…”