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Early Childhood Trajectories of Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits: The Role of Fearlessness and Psychopathic Personality Dimensions

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Abstract

Children with early onset of conduct problems (CP) are at risk for long lasting psychosocial problems, especially if CP co-occurs with callous-unemotional (CU) traits. Joint trajectories of CP and CU traits during early childhood were identified using data from the SOFIA study, following 2031 children longitudinally from ages 3–5 to 5–7 years. The results showed that children exhibiting stable high CP and CU traits were characterized by high levels of fearlessness, and psychopathic traits, including grandiose-deceitfulness, and impulsivity, need for stimulation. Children with decreasing or increasing CP and CU traits were characterized by decreases and increases respectively in their levels of fearlessness and psychopathic traits. Children high on CP and low on CU traits exhibited lower levels of these dimensions. Thus, stability and change of fearlessness and psychopathic traits are associated with stability and change in CP and CU traits, making these temperamental and personality traits promising target candidates for early intervention.

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Notes

  1. Analyses also revealed a very small group of children (0.2%) with high CU traits only, but due to the limited group size, they were not included in the remaining analyses [12].

  2. In Sweden, the year a child turns six years of age he or she transfers from preschool to preschool class which is a part of the primary school system. During the fall of 2011, children born in 2005 advanced to preschool class, and in 2012, children born in 2006 did the same, leaving only children born in 2007 in preschool for the third data collection.

  3. Means and standard deviations for CP and CU traits across time are available upon request.

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Acknowledgments

Henrik Andershed was financed by funds from the Swedish Research Council during the preparation of this manuscript and the first three waves of the SOFIA study was also financed by the Swedish Research Council. We are grateful to Karlstad University and Karlstad municipality for their collaboration in the SOFIA study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Law, Psychology and Social Work, Örebro University, 701 82, Örebro, Sweden

    Ida Klingzell, Olivier F. Colins, Louise Frogner, Anna-Karin Andershed & Henrik Andershed

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus

    Kostas A. Fanti

  3. Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Curium-Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Olivier F. Colins

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  1. Ida Klingzell
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  2. Kostas A. Fanti
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  3. Olivier F. Colins
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  5. Anna-Karin Andershed
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  6. Henrik Andershed
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Correspondence to Ida Klingzell.

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Klingzell, I., Fanti, K.A., Colins, O.F. et al. Early Childhood Trajectories of Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits: The Role of Fearlessness and Psychopathic Personality Dimensions. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 47, 236–247 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-015-0560-0

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