The development of callous-unemotional traits

Robertson et al. (2023) published “The Bidirectional Effects of Antisocial Behavior, Anxiety, and Trauma Exposure: Implications for our understanding of the development of callous–unemotional traits” in Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science. I want to begin by differentiating primary from secondary variants of callous-unemotional traits; while people with primary variants have callous-unemotional traits and low anxiety, those with secondary variants tend to have callous-unemotional traits, high anxiety, and histories of trauma. Here’s the edited abstract and impact statement with some information in bold:

The association of anxiety and trauma with antisocial behavior in children and adolescents has long been the focus of research, and more recently this area of research has become critical to theories of the development of callous–unemotional (CU) traits. Research suggests those with elevated CU traits and anxiety (i.e., secondary CU variant) seem to show more severe externalizing behaviors and are more likely to show histories of trauma, compared to those with elevated CU and low anxiety (i.e., primary CU variant). These findings have typically been interpreted as being indicative of distinct etiological pathways to the development of CU traits. We test an alternative explanation that the higher rates of anxiety and trauma exposure in some youth with elevated CU traits are largely a consequence of their higher levels of antisocial behavior. The current study recruited a sample of 1,216 justice-involved adolescents (Mage = 15.28, SD = 1.28) from three distinct regions of the United States, who were assessed at 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, and 60 months following their first arrest. Using random-intercept cross-lagged models, both antisocial behavior and CU traits predicted changes in future anxiety and CU traits predicted increases in future victimization. Further, using longitudinal parallel mediation models, antisocial and aggressive behavior largely accounted for the predictive association between CU traits and anxiety and CU traits and victimization. These results support a model in which anxiety and trauma histories may be a marker of the severity of antisocial behavior displayed by youth with elevated CU traits. Findings suggest that antisocial behavior predicts increases in anxiety and victimization over time, potentially as a result of the many social impairments and retaliation caused by such behavior. Further, our results suggest that callous-unemotional traits lead to increases in anxiety and victimization over time, largely as a consequence of antisocial behavior. 

This is a large sample with impressive longitudinal data. Previous research has examined the two CU variants but I like this hypothesis that antisocial behavior has consequences. Antisocial behavior elicits retaliation and may well increase both anxiety and the likelihood of victimization. I am hoping that this work is helpful to those who work with young people in the justice system.