Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are strongly related to early-onset and severe levels of conduct problems. How-ever, much less research has focused on their association with potential problems in adolescents' social relation-ships. Further, it is important to determine if CU traits explain variance in important social variables, indepen-dent of conduct problems or general personality dimen-sions related to sociability, like agreeableness. In the current study, we examined the association of CU traits with a range of social variables in a community sample of Italian adolescents (N = 563; 460 girls; mean age =15.80, SD = 1.50). Measures for the social variables included assessment of peer rejection, adolescents' proso-cial behaviors, satisfaction in peer relationships, and feel-ings of connection with school and classmates. We also obtained self-report ratings of CU traits, conduct prob-lems (CP) and agreeableness. Analyses showed that CU traits were significantly associated with all the social vari-ables. After controlling for CP and agreeableness, CU traits were still positively associated with ratings of peer rejection and negatively associated with prosocial behav-ior and satisfaction in relationships with peers. However, the negative associations with feelings of connection to school and peers were no longer significant. These find-ings provide further support for the clinical usefulness of CU traits and further evidence for potential targets of intervention, particularly focused on the adolescent's relational skills.

The Social Correlates to Callous-Unemotional Traits in a Sample of High School Students

Baroncelli, Andrea;
2023

Abstract

Callous-Unemotional (CU) traits are strongly related to early-onset and severe levels of conduct problems. How-ever, much less research has focused on their association with potential problems in adolescents' social relation-ships. Further, it is important to determine if CU traits explain variance in important social variables, indepen-dent of conduct problems or general personality dimen-sions related to sociability, like agreeableness. In the current study, we examined the association of CU traits with a range of social variables in a community sample of Italian adolescents (N = 563; 460 girls; mean age =15.80, SD = 1.50). Measures for the social variables included assessment of peer rejection, adolescents' proso-cial behaviors, satisfaction in peer relationships, and feel-ings of connection with school and classmates. We also obtained self-report ratings of CU traits, conduct prob-lems (CP) and agreeableness. Analyses showed that CU traits were significantly associated with all the social vari-ables. After controlling for CP and agreeableness, CU traits were still positively associated with ratings of peer rejection and negatively associated with prosocial behav-ior and satisfaction in relationships with peers. However, the negative associations with feelings of connection to school and peers were no longer significant. These find-ings provide further support for the clinical usefulness of CU traits and further evidence for potential targets of intervention, particularly focused on the adolescent's relational skills.
2023
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11391/1555543
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