Distinguishing primary and secondary variants of callous-unemotional traits among adolescents in a clinic-referred sample.
- 1 September 2013
- journal article
- Published by American Psychological Association (APA) in Psychological Assessment
- Vol. 25 (3), 966-978
- https://doi.org/10.1037/a0032880
Abstract
The current study used model-based cluster analyses to determine if there are 2 distinct variants of adolescents (ages 11-18) high on callous-unemotional (CU) traits that differ on their level of anxiety and history of trauma. The sample (n = 272) consisted of clinic-referred youths who were primarily African American (90%) and who came from low-income families. Consistent with hypotheses, 3 clusters emerged, including a group low on CU traits, as well as 2 groups high on CU traits that differed in their level of anxiety and past trauma. Consistent with past research on incarcerated adults and adolescents, the group high on anxiety (i.e., secondary variant) was more likely to have histories of abuse and had higher levels of impulsivity, externalizing behaviors, aggression, and behavioral activation. In contrast, the group low on anxiety (i.e., primary variant) scored lower on a measure of behavioral inhibition. On measures of impulsivity and externalizing behavior, the higher scores for the secondary cluster were found only for self-report measures, not on parent-report measures. Youths in the primary cluster also were perceived as less credible reporters than youths in the secondary cluster (i.e., secondary variant) or cluster low on CU traits. These reporter and credibility differences suggest that adolescents within the primary variant may underreport their level of behavioral disturbance, which has important assessment implications.Keywords
Funding Information
- National Institute of Health (R01 MH066647)
This publication has 58 references indexed in Scilit:
- Callous-Unemotional Traits as Unique Prospective Risk Factors for Substance Use in Early Adolescent Boys and GirlsJournal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 2012
- Informants Are Not All Equal: Predictors and Correlates of Clinician Judgments About Caregiver and Youth CredibilityJournal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 2011
- The effects of including a callous–unemotional specifier for the diagnosis of conduct disorderJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2011
- Symptoms of Conduct Disorder, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, and Callous-Unemotional Traits as Unique Predictors of Psychosocial Maladjustment in Boys: Advancing an Evidence Base for DSM-VJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 2010
- The role of callous and unemotional traits in the diagnosis of conduct disorderJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 2010
- Identifying subtypes among offenders with antisocial personality disorder: A cluster-analytic study.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2010
- Mapping Gray’s BIS and BAS constructs onto Factor 1 and Factor 2 of Hare’s Psychopathy Checklist – RevisedPersonality and Individual Differences, 2009
- Effects of Methylphenidate and Behavior Modification on the Social and Academic Behavior of Children With Disruptive Behavior Disorders: The Moderating Role of Callous/Unemotional TraitsJournal of Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, 2007
- Longitudinal evidence that psychopathy scores in early adolescence predict adult psychopathy.Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 2007
- Identifying Psychopathy Subtypes on the Basis of Personality Structure.Psychological Assessment, 2004