Journal
JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
Volume 51, Issue 6, Pages 688-695Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2009.02199.x
Keywords
Antisocial behaviour; conduct disorder; diagnosis; psychopathy
Categories
Funding
- Medical Research Council
- Medical Research Council [G0500953, G108/625, G9817803B] Funding Source: researchfish
- MRC [G0500953, G108/625] Funding Source: UKRI
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Background: Callous and unemotional (CU) traits might usefully subtype DSM-IV conduct disorder (CD). We investigate this hypothesis in a large, nationally representative sample of 5-16-year-olds. We also examine the characteristics of children with high CU traits but without CD. Methods: Data come from the 2004 British Child and Adolescent Mental Health Survey including 7,977 children, 5,326 of whom were followed up after 3 years. DSM-IV diagnoses of psychiatric disorder were based on parent, teacher and child report. CU traits were assessed by parent report. Results: Of the 2% of the sample who were diagnosed with DSM-IV CD, 46.1% were high on CU traits. In addition, 2.9% of the sample were high on CU traits without CD. Children with CD and CU traits showed more severe behavioural disturbance and were at substantially higher risk of CD diagnosis 3 years later. Children high on CU traits without CD showed evidence of disturbed functioning. Conclusions: Subtyping CD using CU traits identifies children with more severe and persistent psychopathology. Children with high CU traits but no CD diagnosis require further investigation.
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