Unique and Interactive Associations of Callous-Unemotional Traits, Impulsivity and Grandiosity with Child and Adolescent Conduct Disorder Symptoms

Abstract

The construct of psychopathy remains underrepresented in the clinical diagnosis of Conduct Disorder (CD) as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5 th edition (DSM-5) only addresses one out of the three dimensions of child psychopathy, Callous Unemotional (CU) traits. This study tests if and to what extent there are unique and interactive associations of CU traits, impulsivity and grandiosity with child and adolescent CD symptoms. Data were collected from two separate community samples of children (N=1599; Mage=9.46, SD=1.65; 52% female) and adolescents (N=2719; Mage=16.99, SD=0.99; 49% female), who were followed longitudinally after a year. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were conducted, testing crosssectional and longitudinal associations with CD symptoms, taking into account all three psychopathy dimensions. The cross-sectional findings indicate that only youth presenting a combination of all three psychopathy dimensions scored above the clinical cut-off score for CD.On the other hand, longitudinal findings provided evidence that the combination of high initial levels of CD and CU traits as well as the combination between CD, grandiosity and impulsivity can lead to clinical levels of future CD symptoms. Findings also indicated that CU traits and impulsivity more strongly predicted adolescent than child CD symptoms, and that CU traits were more strongly associated with boys' than girls' CD symptoms. Findings support the inclusion of CU traits as a specifier for the diagnosis of CD, and provide evidence that other psychopathy dimensions can also help clinicians to better understand and treat youth with CD, and should be considered for future revisions of the DSM.

Multidimensionality of Youth Psychopathic Traits: Validation and Future Directions

“…More recently, Horan et al (2015) found that factorial invariance and patterns of association of psychopathic traits with external criteria were mostly similar in boys and girls in a community sample of Hispanic and Black adolescents. Finally, studies in this Special Issue were conducted with culturally and ethnically diverse youth from Sweden (Frogner et al 2018), the island of Cyprus (Andershed et al this issue;Fanti et al 2018), and Italy (Somma et al 2018), revealing remarkable consistency among these studies and relative to the current literature based substantially on North American samples. Beyond these important endeavors, the field needs evidence on how familial and sociocultural factors contextualize youth psychopathic traits.…”

“…Colins et al (2018) intensively ascertained, with separate maternal and paternal ratings, nearly 700 preadolescent boys and girls; the use of all psychopathy dimensions improved predictions of escalating and stable CP relative to CU traits only. Similarly, employing a large sample of children (N = 1599, mean age = 9.5 years), Fanti et al (2018) found improved predictions of CD when impulsivity, grandiosity, and CU traits were simultaneously elevated; however, perhaps more importantly, these predictions were clinically significant given that all three psychopathic trait dimensions predicted an established threshold for clinically severe CD. Finally, a central tenet of developmental psychopathology is that development is characterized by continuity and discontinuity, including non-linear effects.…”

“…One of the most important features across these studies is the depth and richness of their methods. This includes large, typically well-powered samples drawing from both community-based (e.g., Frogner et al 2018;Fanti et al 2018) and incarcerated (Gillen et al 2018;Ridder and Kosson 2018) populations. Recruitment sources yield important clinical and demographic correlates: clinic-referred youth have an earlier onset of psychopathology and elevated comorbidity (Goodman et al 1997) whereas Teplin et al (2015) showed that rates of psychopathology in incarcerated youth far exceeded the general population, as well as important racial-ethnic and sex differences.…”

Traditional and Cyber Bullying/Victimization Among Adolescents: Examining Their Psychosocial Profile Through Latent Profile Analysis

“…In contrast to occasional aggressive acts, bullying incidents (both online and offline) have been associated with specific personality traits (e.g., Leistico et al 2008). Researchers have frequently referred to psychopathic traits 1 (e.g., Fanti and Kimonis 2012;Fanti et al 2018;Kokkinos et al 2014), which evidently are prevalent among both cyber (e.g., Antoniadou and Kokkinos 2013;Antoniadou et al 2016a), and traditional forms of bullying (Fanti and Kimonis 2013;Sutton and Keogh 2000). Psychopathic traits are not perceived as a unidimensional construct and most studies have focused on the affective dimension (callous-unemotional traits), since lack of concern for others' feelings is highly predictive of both TB (e.g., Fanti and Kimonis 2012) and CB (e.g., Antoniadou et al 2016a).…”

Traços frios e insensíveis no DSM-V: Implicações teóricas e clínicas para o estudo da psicopatia

“…Embora contribuições individuais das subdimensões psicopáticas sejam amplamente exploradas, pesquisadores vêm ressaltando especificamente o poder diferencial das EPSL, sobretudo na população infanto-juvenil (Fanti et al, 2018). Com efeito, o termo psicopatia, quando utilizado indiscriminadamente, carrega um forte estigma.…”