Physiological Arousal and Juvenile Psychopathy: Is Low Resting Heart Rate Associated with Affective Dimensions?

Kavish, Nicholas; Vaughn, Michael G.; Cho, Eunsoo; Barth, Amy E.; Boutwell, Brian B.; Vaughn, Sharon; Vaughn, Sharon; Stillman, Stephanie; Martínez, Leticia

doi:10.1007/s11126-016-9437-z

Cited by 36 publications

(30 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…There was also no evidence of an association between RHR in childhood and callous-unemotional traits in adolescence. This finding is in contrast to other studies that have found a cross-sectional association between RHR and child-report callous-unemotional traits in children (Gao et al 2017) and male adolescents (Kavish et al 2017), and a recent meta-analysis reporting evidence of an association between RHR and psychopathy (Portnoy & Farrington, 2015). The lack of association here could be due, in part, to using parent-report measures of callous-unemotional traits or examining effects over a longer time period.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, more recent research suggests that the association between lower RHR and ASB may also be explained through a broader range of traits associated with under-arousal including callous-unemotional traits and psychopathy (DeLisi, 2009; Portnoy & Farrington, 2015; Kavish et al 2017). For example, a previous cross-sectional study found an association between RHR and callous-unemotional traits in male adolescents (Kavish et al 2017), and a recent meta-analysis reported evidence of an association between RHR and psychopathy (Portnoy & Farrington, 2015). In turn, psychopathic traits can accentuate ASB through adolescence and early adulthood (DeLisi, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Low resting heart rate, sensation seeking and the course of antisocial behaviour across adolescence and young adulthood

et al. 2018

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Background. Low resting heart rate (RHR) is a consistent biological correlate of antisocial behaviour (ASB), however potential mechanisms have been largely unexplored. We hypothesise that lower RHR will be associated with higher ASB levels in mid-adolescence and persistence into adulthood, and that these associations will be explained, in part, by sensation seeking and callous-unemotional traits. Methods. ASB was assessed repeatedly with young people from ages 15 to 21 years in a population-based birth cohort (ALSPAC). A longitudinal trajectory was derived and showed ASB decreasing across adolescence before stabilising in early adulthood. RHR was recorded at age 12 years, and mediators were assessed at age 14 years. Results. After adjusting for socio-demographic confounders, there was evidence for a total effect of RHR on ASB levels in mid-adolescence [b(95% CI) = −0.08 (−0.14 to −0.02)], reflecting 0.08 more types of antisocial activity in the last year per 10 fewer heart beats per minute. This effect was almost entirely explained through sensation seeking [b(95% CI) = −0.06 (−0.08 to −0.04)]. After additionally adjusting for child and parent-related confounders, all effects weakened; however, there was still evidence of an indirect effect of RHR, via sensation seeking, on ASB levels in mid-adolescence [b(95% CI) = −0.01 (−0.03 to −0.003)]. There was no evidence for a total effect of RHR on ASB levels in early adulthood, and weak evidence of an indirect effect, via sensation seeking [b(95% CI) = −0.01 (−0.01 to −0.00)]. Conclusions. Lower RHR in childhood was associated with higher ASB levels in mid-adolescence, indirectly via sensation seeking.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low resting heart rate, sensation seeking and the course of antisocial behaviour across adolescence and young adulthood

et al. 2018

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“…Further, the grandiose‐manipulative dimension was associated with low HR activity in response to violent stimuli, after controlling for neutral scenes. These results are in line with prior findings showing that the grandiose‐manipulative dimension explains most of the variance in HR activity (Hansen et al, ; Kavish et al, ). Additionally, low resting HR and SC have been reported in prior work in relation to the boldness construct of the triarchic psychopathy model (Kyranides et al, ), agreeing with work proposing that both constructs relate to the interpersonal factor of psychopathy and to narcissistic personality tendencies (Drislane et al, ; Fanti, Kyranides et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Callous‐unemotional, impulsive‐irresponsible, and grandiose‐manipulative traits: Distinct associations with heart rate, skin conductance, and startle responses to violent and erotic scenes

et al. 2017

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The present study aimed to examine whether callous-unemotional, grandiose-manipulative, and impulsive-irresponsible dimensions of psychopathy are differentially related to various affective and physiological measures, assessed at baseline and in response to violent and erotic movie scenes. Data were collected from young adults (N = 101) at differential risk for psychopathic traits. Findings from regression analyses revealed a unique predictive contribution of grandiose-manipulative traits in particular to higher ratings of positive valence for violent scenes. Callous-unemotional traits were uniquely associated with lower levels of sympathy toward victims and lower ratings of fear and sadness during violent scenes. All three psychopathy dimensions and the total psychopathy scale showed negative zero-order correlations with heart rate at baseline, but regression analyses revealed that only grandiose manipulation was uniquely predictive of lower baseline heart rate. Grandiose manipulation was also significantly associated with lower baseline skin conductance. Regarding autonomic activity, findings resulted in a unique negative association between grandiose manipulation and heart rate activity in response to violent scenes. In contrast, the impulsive-irresponsible dimension was positively related with heart rate activity to violent scenes. Finally, findings revealed that only callous-unemotional traits were negatively associated with startle potentiation in response to violent scenes. No associations during erotic scenes were identified. These findings point to unique associations between the three assessed dimensions of psychopathy with physiological measures, indicating that grandiose manipulation is associated with hypoarousal, impulsive irresponsibility with hyperarousal, and callous-unemotional traits with low emotional and fear responses to violent scenes.

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“…To date, however, there has been significantly less research examining the relationship between heart rate and psychopathy than has examined heart rate and antisocial behavior generally (Kavish et al 2017). While one meta-analysis found no relationship between resting heart rate and psychopathy (Lorber, 2004), a subsequent systematic review and meta-analysis found an overall inverse relationship using different inclusion/exclusion criteria (d = -.19; Portnoy & Farrington, 2015).…”

Section: Resting Heart Rate and Psychopathy: Findings From The Add Health Surveymentioning

confidence: 99%

Resting Heart Rate and Psychopathy Revisited: Findings From the Add Health Survey

Kavish

Vaughn

et al. 2018

Int J Offender Ther Comp Criminol

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Despite the prior linkages of low resting heart rate to antisocial behavior broadly defined, less work has been done examining possible associations between heart rate to psychopathic traits. The small body of research on the topic that has been conducted so far seems to suggest an inverse relationship between the two constructs. A smaller number of studies has found the opposite result, however, and some of the previous studies have been limited by small sample sizes and unrepresentative samples. The current study attempts to help clarify the relationship between resting heart rate and psychopathic traits in a large, nationally representative sample (analytical N ranged from 14,173-14,220) using an alternative measure of psychopathic traits that is less focused on antisocial processes, and rooted in personality traits. No significant relationship between heart rate and psychopathic traits, or heart rate and a measure of cold-heartedness, was found. It is possible that previous findings of a link between heart rate and psychopathy have been driven by the inclusion of overt antisocial behavior in many traditional psychopathy measures. Further work is needed to confirm the associations (or lack thereof) between heart rate and the behavioral, affective, and personality trait aspects of psychopathy.

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Physiological Arousal and Juvenile Psychopathy: Is Low Resting Heart Rate Associated with Affective Dimensions?

Cited by 36 publications

References 34 publications

Low resting heart rate, sensation seeking and the course of antisocial behaviour across adolescence and young adulthood

Low resting heart rate, sensation seeking and the course of antisocial behaviour across adolescence and young adulthood

Callous‐unemotional, impulsive‐irresponsible, and grandiose‐manipulative traits: Distinct associations with heart rate, skin conductance, and startle responses to violent and erotic scenes

Resting Heart Rate and Psychopathy Revisited: Findings From the Add Health Survey

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