Affective and Cognitive Empathy Deficits Distinguish Primary and Secondary Variants of Callous-Unemotional Youth

The current study examined whether a sample of detained male adolescents (n = 107; Mean age = 15.50; SD = 1.30) could be disaggregated into two distinct groups, consistent with past research on primary and secondary variants of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in adolescents. This study also sought to determine a possible explanation for the CU traits among youth in the secondary variant by examining whether they differ from primary variants on measures of cognitive and affective empathy. Using Latent Profile Analyses, two groups of adolescents high on CU traits were identified, a large group (n = 30) high on CU traits but low on anxiety (primary) and a smaller group high on both CU traits and anxiety (n = 10; secondary). Using self-report and computerized measures of affective (e.g., emotional reactivity) and cognitive empathy (e.g., affective facial recognition and theory of mind (ToM)), results revealed that the secondary variant demonstrated the lowest levels of cognitive empathy. In contrast, the primary variant demonstrated the lowest levels of self-report affective empathy, but these levels were not significantly different from the secondary variant. Multiple regression analyses testing the association among measures of empathy, CU traits, and anxiety produced a mostly consistent pattern of results. One exception was the finding of an interaction between CU traits and anxiety in the prediction of fear recognition accuracy that indicated that CU traits were positively associated with accuracy in recognizing fearful facial expressions when anxiety was low. The current study builds upon previous work examining primary and secondary variants of CU traits by suggesting that both primary and secondary variants may exhibit similar deficits in affective empathy, but that secondary variants may also exhibit deficits in cognitive empathy and perspective-taking that are not present in primary variants

Psychometric properties of Basic Empathy Scale among female juvenile delinquents and school youths

Research on empathy often distinguishes between affective and cognitive empathy, but there is limited knowledge regarding the application or measurement of these two dimensions of empathy among female youth, especially forensic samples of female youth. The main aim of the present study was to examine the psychometric properties of the Basic Empathy Scale (BES) among a Portuguese sample of female youths (N = 377), composed of incarcerated female juvenile offenders (n = 103) and school youths (n = 274). The two-factor structure of the BES obtained a good fit among the school sample, but the fit among the forensic sample was poor. Both samples demonstrated adequate psychometric properties in terms of Cronbach's alpha, omega coefficient, mean inter item correlations, corrected item-total correlation range, and criterion validity. However, some caution is advised when using the BES with female youth involved in the juvenile justice system, particularly with incarcerated female youth. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.European Social Fund (POPH/FSE)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A retrospective study on how psychopathic traits differentiate recidivists from first-time female youth offenders in juvenile detention centers

The aim of the present study was to analyze the relation between recidivism and self-reported psychopathic traits, more specifically the callous-unemotional, impulsivity, and nar- cissism dimensions of the psychopathy construct among female juvenile delinquents. The Antisocial Process Screening Device–Self-Report (APSD-SR) and other self-report psycho- metric instruments (i.e., Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits [ICU], Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, version 11 [BIS-11], Narcissistic Personality Inventory-13 [NPI-13]) independently measuring the different dimensions of psychopathy were com- pleted by a sample of incarcerated female juvenile offenders (N = 81) that were retrospectively classified as first-time offen- ders versus recidivists. The only statistically significant relation between recidivism and psychopathic traits found was with narcissism, namely with the Grandiose/Exhibitionism and the Entitlement/Exploitativeness dimensions of the NPI-13. Our results argue for some utility of self-reported psychopathic traits in retrospectively predicting recidivism among female juvenile delinquents.Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT; Grant SFRH/BPD/86666/2012), with cofinancing of the European Social Fund (POPH/FSE), the Portuguese Ministry of Science (MCTES), and the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (UID/PSI/01662/2013

Can vitamin D status influence the effect of stress on planning and problem-solving? A randomized control trial

Background: Nutritional interventions may serve as a stress resilience strategy with important implications for human health.Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of vitamin D supplementation throughout wintertime on problem-solving and planning abilities during stressful circumstances.Design: A total of 77 male inpatients with a mean age of 48 years (range 31–81) and stress-related mental health disorders were randomly assigned into a Vitamin D supplement group (daily intake of 40 μg) or a pla-cebo supplement group (Control) (daily intake of 120 mg olive oil). The intervention period was from January 2018 to May 2018. The means and standard deviations for vitamin D status (25-hydroxyvitamin D3, nmol/L), pre- and post-test, respectively, were 58(21) and 46(15) for the Control group, and 63(18) and 76(21) for the Vitamin D group. Problem-solving and planning abilities were measured by the Tower of London (ToL) task pre- (midwinter) and post- (spring) supplement intervention. The ToL task was performed during exposure to distracting noise.Results: The results revealed that vitamin D supplementation throughout the winter had a significant effect on number of correct responses on easier (1 and 2 move) ToL problems during stress; the Vitamin D group improved significantly from pre- to post-test, whereas the Control group did not. In addition, the Vitamin D group had significantly more correct responses than the Control group on post-test. The improved perfor-mance was not related to a speed-accuracy trade off effect; both groups showed significantly decreased plan-ning times from pre- to post-test. The intervention did not differentially affect task performance on the more difficult (3 to 5 move) ToL problems. For the more demanding problems, IQ seemed to explain most of the variance regarding accuracy. Age explained most of the variance associated with task planning time.Conclusion: Vitamin D supplementation seemed to improve resilience to stress, but it was limited to performance of easier tasks.publishedVersio

Callous-unemotional traits and anxiety in a community sample of 7-year-olds

In forensic samples of adults and adolescents, there is evidence to suggest that there may be distinct variants of psychopathy marked by the presence/absence of significant levels of anxiety. Callous-unemotional (CU) traits can be used to characterize children who share behavioural and neurocognitive features with adult psychopaths. The aims of this paper are to (a) investigate the genetic and environmental influences on CU traits with/without anxiety and (b) explore differences in terms of concurrent and early parenting and adjustment. Discrete groups were formed on the basis of scores in the top 10% of the sample on CU and anxiety scales at age 7. Estimates of group heritability were calculated using a Defries-Fulker (DF) extremes regression model. Follow back analyses of early parenting and adjustment were conducted using multivariate analyses of covariance. There was high group heritability for CU traits with/without anxiety. Children with both high CU and anxiety showed greater levels of adjustment problems than those with CU only at age 7. The two groups did not differ in parenting characteristics. In this general population sample, evidence did not support differences in etiology for the two groups high on CU traits differing in level of anxiety

The Effects of Including a Callous Unemotional Specifier for the Diagnosis of Conduct Disorder

“With Significant Callous-Unemotional Traits” has been proposed as a specifier for Conduct Disorder (CD) in the upcoming revision of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). The impact of this specifier on children diagnosed with CD should be considered

Deep Brain Stimulation for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Real World Experience Post-FDA-Humanitarian Use Device Approval

While case series have established the efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) in treating obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it has been our experience that few OCD patients present without comorbidities that affect outcomes associated with DBS treatment. Here we present our experience with DBS therapy for OCD in patients who all have comorbid disease, together with the results of our programming strategies. For this case series, we assessed five patients who underwent ventral capsule/ventral striatum (VC/VS) DBS for OCD between 2015 and 2019 at the University of Colorado Hospital. Every patient in this cohort exhibited comorbidities, including substance use disorders, eating disorder, tic disorder, and autism spectrum disorder. We conducted an IRB-approved, retrospective study of programming modifications and treatment response over the course of DBS therapy. In addition to patients\u27 subjective reports of improvement, we observed significant improvement in the Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale (44%), the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale (53%), the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (27%), and the Hamilton Anxiety Rating scales (34.9%) following DBS. With respect to co-morbid disease, there was a significant improvement in a patient with tic disorder\u27s Total Tic Severity Score (TTSS) ( = 0.005). DBS remains an efficacious tool for the treatment of OCD, even in patients with significant comorbidities in whom DBS has not previously been investigated. Efficacious treatment results not only from the accurate placement of the electrodes by the surgeon but also from programming by the psychiatrist

Vitamin D supplementation during winter: Effects on stress resilience in a randomized control trial

Vitamin D status may be important for stress resilience. This study investigated the effects of vitamin D supplements during winter on biological markers of stress resilience such as psychophysiological activity, serotonin, and cortisol in a placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial. Eighty-six participants were randomly assigned to the Intervention (vitamin D) or Control (placebo) groups. Before and after the intervention participants were exposed to an experimental stress procedure. Psychophysiological activity was measured during three main conditions: baseline, stress, and recovery. Fasting blood samples were taken in the morning and saliva samples were collected at seven different time points across 24 h. Prior to intervention both groups had normal/sufficient vitamin D levels. Both groups showed a normal pattern of psychophysiological responses to the experimental stress procedure (i.e., increased psychophysiological responses from resting baseline to stress-condition, and decreased psychophysiological responses from stress-condition to recovery; all p < 0.009). Post-intervention, the Intervention group showed increased vitamin D levels (p < 0.001) and normal psychophysiological responses to the experimental stress procedure (p < 0.001). Importantly, the Control group demonstrated a classic nadir in vitamin D status post-intervention (spring) (p < 0.001) and did not show normal psychophysiological responses. Thus, physiologically the Control group showed a sustained stress response. No significant effects of vitamin D were found on serotonin and cortisol.publishedVersio

Distinguishing primary and secondary variants of callous-unemotional traits among adolescents in a clinic-referred sample.

The current study used model-based cluster analyses to determine if there are two 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 from low income families. Consistent with hypotheses, three clusters emerged, including a group low on CU traits, as well as two 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 only were found for self-report measures, not on parent-report measures. Youths in the primary cluster also were perceived as less credible reporters than youth in the secondary 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

Sleep and BMI in South African urban and rural, high and low-income preschool children

Abstract Background The extent to which income setting or rural and urban environments modify the association between sleep and obesity in young children is unclear. The aims of this cross-sectional observational study were to (i) describe and compare sleep in South African preschool children from rural low-income (RL), urban low-income (UL) and urban high-income (UH) settings; and (ii) test for associations between sleep parameters and body mass index (BMI). Methods Participants were preschoolers (5.2 ± 0.7y, 49.5% boys) from RL (n = 111), UL (n = 65) and UH (n = 22) settings. Height and weight were measured. Sleep, sedentary behaviour and physical activity were assessed using accelerometery. Results UL children had higher BMI z-scores (median: 0.39; interquartile range: − 0.27, 0.99) than the UH (− 0.38; − 0.88, 0.11) and RL (− 0.08; − 0.83, 0.53) children (p = 0.001). The UL children had later bedtimes (p < 0.001) and wake-up times (p < 0.001) and shorter 24 h (p < 0.001) and nocturnal (p < 0.001) sleep durations than the RL and UH children. After adjusting for age, sex, setting, SB and PA, for every hour less sleep obtained (24 h and nocturnal), children were 2.28 (95% CI: 1.28–4.35) and 2.22 (95% CI: 1.27–3.85) more likely, respectively, to belong to a higher BMI z-score quartile. Conclusions Shorter sleep is associated with a higher BMI z-score in South African preschoolers, despite high levels of PA, with UL children appearing to be particularly vulnerable