The bidirectional effects of antisocial behavior, anxiety, and trauma exposure: Implications for our understanding of the development of callous–unemotional traits.

Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science, Vol 132(4), May 2023, 445-460; doi:10.1037/abn0000815The association of anxiety and trauma with antisocial behavior in children and adolescents has long been the focus of research, and more recently this area of research has become critical to theories of the development of callous–unemotional (CU) traits. Research suggests those with elevated CU traits and anxiety (i.e., secondary CU variant) seem to show more severe externalizing behaviors and are more likely to show histories of trauma, compared to those with elevated CU and low anxiety (i.e., primary CU variant). These findings have typically been interpreted as being indicative of distinct etiological pathways to the development of CU traits. We test an alternative explanation that the higher rates of anxiety and trauma exposure in some youth with elevated CU traits are largely a consequence of their higher levels of antisocial behavior. The current study recruited a sample of 1,216 justice-involved adolescents (Mage = 15.28, SD = 1.28) from three distinct regions of the United States, who were assessed at 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 36, 48, and 60 months following their first arrest. Using random-intercept cross-lagged models, both antisocial behavior and CU traits predicted changes in future anxiety and CU traits predicted increases in future victimization. Further, using longitudinal parallel mediation models, antisocial and aggressive behavior largely accounted for the predic...
Source: Journal of Abnormal Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research