The moderating role of anxiety in the associations of callous-unemotional traits with self-report and laboratory measures of affective and cognitive empathy

In a sample of detained male adolescents (n = 107; Mean age = 15.50; SD = 1.30), we tested whether anxiety moderated the association of CU traits with self-report and computerized measures of affective (emotional reactivity) and cognitive (affective facial recognition and Theory of Mind [ToM]) empathy. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that CU traits were negatively associated with self-reports of affective empathy and this association was not moderated by level of anxiety. Significant interactions revealed that CU traits were negatively associated with cognitive empathy (self-report) only at high levels of anxiety, whereas CU traits were positively associated with cognitive empathy on the ToM task only at low levels of anxiety. CU traits were also associated with greater fear recognition accuracy at low levels of anxiety. Implications for understanding and treating different variants of CU traits (i.e., primary and secondary) are discussed

The social, behavioral, and emotional correlates of bullying and victimization in a school-based sample

Bullying is a prevalent problem in schools that is associated with a number of negative outcomes for both the child who bullies and his or her victims. In a community sample of 284 ethnically diverse school-children (54.2 % girls) between the ages of 9 and 14 years (M = 11.28, SD = 1.82), the current study examined whether the level of victimization moderated the association between bullying and several behavioral, social, and emotional characteristics. These characteristics were specifically chosen to integrate research on distinct developmental pathways to conduct problems with research on the characteristics shown by children who bully others. Results indicated that both bullying and victimization were independently associated with conduct problems. However, there was an interaction between bullying and victimization in the prediction of callous-unemotional (CU) traits, such that the association between bullying and CU traits was stronger for those lower on victimization. Further, bullying was positively associated with positive attitudes towards bullying and anger expression and neither of these associations were moderated by the level of victimization. In contrast, bullying was not associated with the child’s perceived problems regulating anger, suggesting that children with higher levels of bullying admit to expressing anger but consider this emotional expression as being under their control

Peer and sibling relationships

One of the most important roles of parents is to help their children learn to relate to peers, and find their place in the world of their peers. Siblings are often the child’s first peers in that they are relatively equal in terms of power, and they also typically engage together in play. Positive relationships with both peers and siblings protect children from adversity. However, problematic peer or sibling relating, including bullying or conflict, can have serious consequences for mental health and behavior. Parenting impacts the development of peer and sibling relationships in similar ways. The aim of this chapter is to review research and theory about how parenting affects these relationships. The paths through which parents influence peer and sibling relationships are explored. Evidence of the effectiveness of parenting interventions to improve children’s peer and sibling relationship issues is examined. It is recommended that future research seeks to further differentiate the interplay of genetics and parenting affecting child outcomes, and that intervention trials examine the impact of interventions on both sibling and peer relationships. To date, most school interventions to address bullying and victimization have involved parents only minimally. There is, however, a great deal of evidence that involvement of parents and families is critical in addressing serious problems in peer, as well as sibling, relationships