Unique and interactive associations of callous-unemotional traits, impulsivity and narcissism with child and adolescent Conduct Disorder symptoms

The construct of psychopathy remains underrepresented in the clinical diagnosis of Conduct Disorder (CD) as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 5th 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 cross-sectional 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

Towards Integrated Youth Care: a systematic review of facilitators and barriers for professionals

To overcome fragmentation in support for children and their families with multiple and enduring problems across life domains, professionals increasingly try to organize integrated care. However, it is unclear what facilitators and barriers professionals experience when providing this integrated care. Our systematic review, including 55 studies from a broad variety of settings in Youth Care, showed that integrated care on a professional level is a multi-component entity consisting of several facilitators and barriers. Findings were clustered in seven general themes: ‘Child’s environment’, ‘Preconditions’, ‘Care process’, ‘Expertise’, ‘Interprofessional collaboration’, ‘Information exchange’, and ‘Professional identity’. The identified facilitators and barriers were generally consistent across studies, indicating broad applicability across settings and professional disciplines. This review clearly shows that when Youth Care professionals address a broad spectrum of problems, a variety of facilitators and barriers should be considered.New methods for child psychiatric diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluatio

Differential Fairness Decisions and Brain Responses After Expressed Emotions of Others in Boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders

Little is known about how emotions expressed by others influence social decisions and associated brain responses in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). We investigated the neural mechanisms underlying fairness decisions in response to explicitly expressed emotions of others in boys with ASD and typically developing (TD) boys. Participants with ASD adjusted their allocation behavior in response to the emotions but reacted less unfair than TD controls in response to happiness. We also found reduced brain responses in the precental gyrus in the ASD versus TD group when receiving happy versus angry reactions and autistic traits were positively associated with activity in the postcentral gyrus. These results provide indications for a role of precentral and postcentral gyrus in social-affective difficulties in ASD

The usefulness of DSM-IV and DSM-5 conduct disorder subtyping in detained adolescents

The aim of this study was to test whether the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), and DSM-5 conduct disorder (CD) subtyping approaches identify adolescents with concurrent psychiatric morbidity and an increased risk to reoffend. A diagnostic interview was used to assess childhood-onset CD (CoCD), adolescent-onset CD (AoCD), and concurrent psychiatric morbidity in 223 detained male adolescents. The callous-unemotional (CU) specifier was established through a self-report questionnaire. Two to four years later, information on official criminal recidivism was collected. The CoCD and AoCD youths were different in concurrent psychiatric morbidity but not in their risk to reoffend. The youths with CD and CU (CD+CU) and the CD-only youths did not differ with regard to concurrent psychiatric morbidity. In addition, the CD+CU youths were at risk to reoffend but merely when compared with their counterparts without CD/CU. Although CD subtyping approaches may identify youths with concurrent psychiatric morbidity, the usefulness to predict recidivism in already delinquent youths is limited

The DSM-5 With Limited Prosocial Emotions Specifier for Conduct Disorder Among Detained Girls

New methods for child psychiatric diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluatio

Testing the utility of the psychopathy construct for predicting criminal recidivism among detained girls

Few studies have scrutinized the prospective relation between psychopathy and criminality in detained girls. Consequently, it is not well known if the psychopathy construct adds to the prediction of recidivism over other risk factors, such as conduct disorder and past criminality. To address this research gap, the current study examined data from 302 detained girls (M age = 16.2). Psychopathy total and component (i.e., narcissism, callous-unemotional, and impulsivity) scores were derived from the self-report version of the Antisocial Process Screening Device (APSD). Latent profile analysis was used to identify girls with high scores on the three com-ponents (tentatively labeled 'putative psychopathic personality'). Five youth recidivism outcomes were measured (i.e., violent, serious non-violent, drug, total, and versatile), based on arrest charges that occurred before girls were 18 years of age. With a few exceptions, neither the ASPD total nor the APSD component scores contributed to the prediction of the recidivism outcomes. Girls with a putative psychopathic personality also were not at increased risk for recidivism. Findings overall suggest that the psychopathy construct should not be used for risk assessment purposes among detained girls, at least not when assessed via the self-report version of the APSD.New methods for child psychiatric diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluatio

Stability and Change in Callous-Unemotional Traits: Longitudinal Associations With Potential Individual and Contextual Risk and Protective Factors

New methods for child psychiatric diagnosis and treatment outcome evaluatio