The importance of assessing psychopathic traits in juveniles who have committed sexual offenses has been established in individuals who demonstrate a particularly severe and violent pattern of behavior. Additionally, the assessment of these traits in other juveniles might be relevant considering that higher levels of these traits represent an increased probability of the juvenile committing offenses. This study is a systematic review of the literature about the presence of callous-unemotional (CU) traits in juveniles who have committed sexual and non-sexual offenses, in order to ascertain eventual differences between these groups regarding the presence of CU traits. Studies were obtained from multiple databases, with predefined exclusion and inclusion criteria, according to PRISMA-P guidelines. A total of 18 studies were reviewed and included in the final analysis. The 18 studies used measures of CU traits and reported descriptive categories of CU traits in juveniles who have committed general offenses or juveniles who have committed sexual offenses. Meta-analytic procedures such as pooled means, pooled variances, and pooled standard deviations are presented in this study. The main conclusion obtained is that juveniles who have committed general offenses present higher levels of CU traits compared to juveniles who have committed sexual offenses. Although the review highlights limitations in the literature, the identification of these characteristics in different types of juveniles who have committed offenses is important to shed light on the phenomenon and develop interventions better suited to their characteristics. Recommendations for future research are also presented.

Research evaluating mental health literacy (MHL) of adults who support children with mental health difficulties is relatively scarce. To date, no studies have investigated educator knowledge of conduct problems and callous-unemotional (CU) traits. This is a significant gap in the literature since conduct problems are among the most prevalent childhood mental disorders, while CU traits are associated with poor academic, behavioral, and social outcomes in school settings. In the current study, we assessed educators\' knowledge of the characteristics and management of conduct problems and CU traits. Participants were N = 390 preschool and primary/elementary school educators (Mage = 38.62 years, SD = 11.66; 91% woman-identifying; 71% White) who completed a Knowledge Test and survey assessing educator characteristics and various student-educator outcomes. Averaged across items, educators scored 57.1% on the Knowledge Test. We identified gaps in educator knowledge with respect to identifying characteristics associated with distinct domains of externalizing difficulties and evidence-based management strategies. Educators\' years of experience and accreditation status were not associated with knowledge. Paraeducators had significantly lower knowledge scores than teachers and leadership. Unexpectedly, greater knowledge was not associated with better student-teacher relationship quality or more positive perceptions of students with conduct problems. Findings support the need for universal MHL programs focused on conduct problems and CU traits, especially among paraeducators, while also suggesting that more intensive interventions may be required to improve educator-student relationship quality.

Deficits in effortful control (EC) contribute to patterns of maladaptation across development; however, little is known about how specific subfactors of EC differentially predict children\'s externalizing psychopathology. Using a longitudinal sample of 206 children (47.8% female, 42.6% Caucasian), the current study employed a bi-factor structural equation modeling approach to examine the concurrent and longitudinal associations between EC and its subfactors (i.e., attentional focusing, low-intensity pleasure, perceptual sensitivity, inhibitory control) and conduct problems, attention deficit disordered behaviors (ADD), and callous-unemotional (CU) traits at 36 and 84 months, respectively. Results indicated that increased general EC at 36 months predicted reduced CU traits and ADD at 84 months. Attentional focusing was the only subfactor to uniquely predict later CU traits, suggesting that strong attentional abilities attenuate risk for CU trait development. The implications for research and practice are discussed.

BACKGROUND: Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with interpersonal difficulties and risk for severe conduct problems (CP). The ability to communicate thoughts and feelings is critical to social success, with language a promising treatment target. However, no prior studies have examined objective linguistic correlates of childhood CU traits in early childhood, which could give insight into underlying risk mechanisms and novel target treatments.
METHODS: We computed lexical (positive emotion, sad, and anger words) and conversational (interruptions and speech rate) markers produced by 131 children aged 5-6 years (M = 5.98; SD = 0.54, 58.8% female) and their parents while narrating wordless storybooks during two online visits separated by 6-8 weeks (M = 6.56, SD = 1.11; two books, order counterbalanced). Audio recordings were diarized, time-aligned, and orthographically transcribed using WebTrans. Conversational markers were calculated using R and word frequencies were calculated using Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) software. We examined links between child CU traits and linguistic markers, and explored whether relationships were moderated by child sex.
RESULTS: Higher CU traits were associated with fewer positive emotion words produced by parents and children. Higher CU traits were also associated with greater concordance in the degree of interruptions and expression of anger emotion words by parents and children.
CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that objective linguistic correlates of CU traits are detectable during early childhood, which could inform adjunctive treatment modules that improve outcomes by precisely tracking and targeting subtle communication patterns.

CU traits, characterized by shallow affect, lack of fear, and absence of remorse, have been moderately associated with childhood maltreatment in a recent meta-analysis. However, the potential impact of brain structures remains undetermined. This paper examines the relationship between callous-unemotional (CU) traits, childhood maltreatment, and amygdala volumes. In this study, we used a region-of-interest (ROI) analysis to explore the interaction between the volumes of the amygdala, childhood maltreatment, and the manifestation of CU traits in adolescents diagnosed with conduct disorder (CD, N = 67), along with a comparison group of healthy-control youths (HCs, N = 89). The ROI analysis revealed no significant group differences in the bilateral amygdalar volumes. Significant positive correlation was discovered between all forms of child maltreatment (except for physical neglect) and CU traits across subjects. But the interaction of physical abuse and amygdala volumes was only significant within CD patients. Notably, a sensitivity analysis suggested that gender significantly influences these findings. These results contribute critical insights into the etiology of CU traits, emphasizing the need for customized clinical assessment tools and intervention strategies.

Research on the link between peer victimization and callous-unemotional (CU) traits has primarily relied on cross-sectional designs and yielded equivocal findings. In light of the poor outcomes related to peer victimization and CU traits, it is important to determine whether this link is reciprocal in nature and to identify factors that may influence its strength. Accordingly, the current study investigated the bidirectional association between peer victimization and CU traits over a 6-month period, accounting for the moderating effects of parents (i.e., support and hostility) and teachers (i.e., support and conflict). Participants included 284 third- through fifth-grade students (ages 7-12; 51.8% boys; 51.1% Hispanic) and their homeroom teachers. Children provided ratings of peer victimization, parental hostility, and parent and teacher support. Teachers provided ratings of CU traits and student-teacher conflict. A series of cross-lagged panel models were estimated. Results revealed that, at higher levels of parental hostility, peer victimization predicted increases in CU traits over time; in contrast, peer victimization predicted decreases in CU traits at lower levels of parental hostility. Surprisingly, at higher levels of teacher conflict, peer victimization predicted decreases in CU traits over time. CU traits did not interact with parent or teacher variables to predict subsequent peer victimization. Moreover, parental hostility was positively associated with subsequent peer victimization, whereas teacher support predicted decreases in victimization over time. These findings build on previous research examining environmental influences on the expression of CU traits by highlighting peer victimization and parental hostility as potential risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Callous-unemotional traits are associated with the development of severe behavior problems, delinquency, and psychopathy. Previous studies have repeatedly shown that CU traits may be present as early as preschool age, and they have consistently used the Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits (ICU) to assess CU traits in children and adolescents. A three-factor structure for the ICU has been widely endorsed.
METHODS: The aim of our study is to compare the three-factor structure of the ICU in different age groups (preschool, middle childhood, early, and late adolescence) and to test for measurement invariance in a German sample of N = 2368 children and adolescents (M = 11.76 years; SD = 3.72).
RESULTS: The results of our study indicate configural measurement invariance, suggesting that the ICU has the same structure in all age groups but with different meanings, parameters, and mean values in the groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Accordingly, the ICU cannot be applied in the same way to children and adolescents of different age groups, which emphasizes the need for a more differentiated assessment.

Bystanders are the most common role that adolescents play in bullying episodes, they have considerable influence on the formation of the victim\'s experience and the perpetrator\'s behavior. Based on the social-cognitive model, the current study examined the mediating role of moral disengagement in the association between callous-unemotional traits and bystander behavior and the moderating roles of moral identity and perceived social support. Participants included 2,286 Chinese adolescents aged 11-16 years (49.3% boys; Mage = 13.46, SDage = 0.93). The study showed callous-unemotional traits were significantly and positively associated with bystander behavior and this relation was partially mediated by moral disengagement. Moral identity moderated the relation between callous-unemotional traits and moral disengagement as well as callous-unemotional traits and bystander behavior. Perceived social support moderated in the direct and indirect associations between callous-unemotional traits and bystander behavior via moral disengagement. The relation between callous-unemotional traits and moral disengagement and the relation between callous-unemotional traits and bystander behavior became weaker for adolescents with high perceived social support. Surprisingly, the relation between moral disengagement and bystander behavior became stronger for adolescents with a high level of perceived social support. The results supported two specific patterns of perceived social support: stress-buffering and reverse stress-buffering. The present study contributes to our understanding of the key mechanisms underlying the association between callous-unemotional traits and adolescents\' bystander behavior.

UNASSIGNED: The systematic review and meta-analysis included 17 research articles from 1994 to 2022. Results were summarized by developmental periods.
UNASSIGNED: Attachment insecurity was associated with CU traits across development (r = .17). This association was marginally stronger for high-risk samples (e.g., clinical, justice) and for continuous attachment measures versus coding schemes. From early to middle childhood, attachment disorganization was associated with CU traits (r = .17).
UNASSIGNED: Research on attachment and CU traits in childhood is still in its infancy. Changes in attachment measures from childhood to adolescence make developmental comparisons difficult. Results suggest attachment as a potential developmental mechanism for youth with CU traits, however, the area requires more research.

UNASSIGNED: The Internet has triggered a series of online deviant behaviors, and cyberbullying is one of them. Cyberbullying victimization as a category of frustration and the aggression triggered by it has been confirmed by many studies. Previous studies have explored the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and cyberbullying perpetration. However, the boundary conditions of the two have yet to be sufficiently explored, and this article will further explore the moderating effect in the transformation mechanism.
UNASSIGNED: The convenience sampling method was used to select a cumulative total of 668 students from university students of several universities in Beijing for the study, using questionnaires including Cyberbullying Victimization Questionnaire, Cyberbullying Perpetration Questionnaire, the Callous-unemotional Traits Scale, and Internet Morality Questionnaire.
UNASSIGNED: (1) Controlling for gender and grade, cyberbullying victimization has a positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration. (2) Callous-unemotional traits moderated the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. (3) Internet morality can moderate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration. (4) Callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality can co-regulate the relationship between cyberbullying victimization and perpetration.
UNASSIGNED: The results indicate that cyberbullying victimization had a significant positive relationship with cyberbullying perpetration, a process moderated by callous-unemotional traits and Internet morality.