Physiologically-Indexed and Self-Perceived Affective Empathy in Conduct-Disordered Children High and Low on Callous-Unemotional Traits

• Published in: Child psychiatry and human development Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 503 - 517
• Main Authors: Anastassiou-Hadjicharalambous, Xenia, Warden, David
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Boston Springer US 01.12.2008; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Affect; Affective Behavior; Aggression; Antisocial Behavior; Antisocial personality disorder; Antisocial Personality Disorder - diagnosis; Antisocial Personality Disorder - psychology; Arousal; Arousal Patterns; Behavior; Behavior Disorders; Behavior Problems; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Biological and medical sciences; Child; Child & adolescent psychiatry; Child and School Psychology; Child clinical studies; Child psychology; Children; Children & youth; Cognitive Development; Comparative Analysis; Conduct disorder; Conduct Disorder - diagnosis; Conduct Disorder - psychology; Control; Emotional Response; Empathy; Evidence; Feedback (Response); Female; Heart rate; Heart Rate - physiology; Humans; Language Skills; Male; Medical sciences; Mental Disorders; Meta Analysis; Metabolism; Original Article; Personality Traits; Physiology; Psychiatry; Psychology; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Resistance (Psychology); Self Control; Social behavior disorders; Social Desirability; Socioeconomic Background; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic status; Stereotypes; Subsets; Surveys and Questionnaires; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Conduct disorder; Psychopathy; Callous-unemotional traits; Affective empathy; Human; Affect affectivity; Callous-unemotional traits, Conduct disorder, Affective empathy; Psychopathia; Self perception; Empathy; Social behavior disorder; Child; Behavioral disorder
• ISSN: 0009-398X; 1573-3327; 1573-3327
• DOI: 10.1007/s10578-008-0104-y

Heart rate (HR) was employed to compare vicarious affective arousal across three groups of children (aged 7.6 - 11, N = 95 ): Conduct Disordered (CD) elevated on Callous-Unemotional traits ( CD/CU ), CD low on CU traits ( CD-only ), and ‘typically-developing’ controls, matched in age, gender and socioeconomic background. While watching an emotion evocative film, participants–HR was monitored. Immediately after viewing, self-reported vicarious responses were obtained. Participants also completed the Bryant Empathy Index . CD/CU children displayed lower magnitude of HR change than both CD-only and controls. Both CD groups reported fewer vicarious responses and scored lower than controls on the empathy index. These results support distinct deficits across CD subsets, suggestive of distinct mechanisms underlying their antisocial conduct.