Parental warmth and hostility are two key dimensions of parenting for child development, but the differential effects of these parenting dimensions on child prosocial and antisocial development has not been adequately investigated. The current study hypothesized that parental warmth would be uniquely related to child callous-unemotional traits and…

Research has indicated that there are several common pathways through which children and adolescents develop conduct disorder, each with different risk factors and each with different underlying developmental mechanisms leading to the child's aggressive and antisocial behavior. The current article briefly summarizes research on these pathways,…

To provide an extended assessment of the affective features of psychopathy, Frick developed the Inventory of Callous and Unemotional Traits (ICU), which is a multi-informant questionnaire. Previous studies have provided initial support for the self-report version. The aim of the present study is to investigate the validity of self- as well as…

In the present study, the authors investigated whether callous and unemotional (CU) traits designated a distinct and important group of adolescent sex offender. A sample of 150 detained adolescents (mean age = 15.89, SD = 1.53) with a current sexual offense disposition was assessed with a self-report measure of CU traits and through extensive…

The current paper reviews research suggesting that the presence of a callous and unemotional interpersonal style designates an important subgroup of antisocial and aggressive youth. Specifically, callous-unemotional (CU) traits (e.g., lack of guilt, absence of empathy, callous use of others) seem to be relatively stable across childhood and…

Background: Impaired verbal abilities are one of the most consistent risk factors for serious antisocial and delinquent behavior. However, individuals with psychopathic traits often show serious antisocial behavior, despite showing no impairment in their verbal abilities. Thus, the aim of the current study was to examine whether psychopathy…

Using taxometric procedures, the latent structure of psychopathy was investigated in two studies of children and adolescents. Prior studies have identified a taxon (i.e., a natural category) associated with antisocial behavior in adults as well as children and adolescents. However, features of this taxon suggest that it is not psychopathy but…

We examined the predictive utility of narcissism among a community sample of children and adolescents (N=98) longitudinally. Analyses focused on the differential utility between maladaptive and adaptive narcissism for predicting later delinquency. Maladaptive narcissism significantly predicted self-reported delinquency at one-, two-, and…

Research has uncovered a large number of risk factors that can place a child at risk for showing severe antisocial and aggressive behavior and to be diagnosed with conduct disorder. In this paper, recent research is outlined that has organized these risk factors into distinct pathways, each involving somewhat distinct causal processes, through…

Association with a deviant peer group is a robust correlate of juvenile antisocial behavior. The current study focused on whether this association differed for antisocial youth with and without callous-unemotional (CU) traits and whether potential mediators of this association differed for the 2 groups. Deviant peer group association was examined…

This study examined the structure, distribution, and correlates of a new measure of self-reported callous-unemotional (CU) traits in 1,443 adolescents (774 boys, 669 girls) between the ages of 13 to 18 years. The Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits was subjected to exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. Exploratory…

In sample of 177 clinic-referred children aged 7-13, association was found between diagnosis of conduct disorder and several aspects of family functioning: maternal parenting (supervision and persistence in discipline) and parent adjustment (paternal antisocial personality disorder and paternal substance abuse). Children with oppositional defiant…

This article reviews research linking a number of temperamental vulnerabilities to the development of severe conduct problems in children. Also reviewed are 2 areas of research that focus on important developmental processes that could mediate the relation between temperament and conduct problems. These processes are the development of emotional…

The current study tests whether the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits designates a group of children with conduct problems who show an especially severe and chronic pattern of conduct problems and delinquency. Ninety-eight children who were selected from a large community screening of school children in grades 3, 4, 6 and 7 were followed…

Reviews research on influence of child's family context on development of conduct problems. Addresses what critical aspects of child's family context (parental psychological adjustment, parental marital adjustment, parental socialization practices) seem related to development of conduct problems and how these factors might affect child. Discusses…