Journal
JOURNAL OF CHILD PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHIATRY
Volume 61, Issue 7, Pages 818-825Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/jcpp.13182
Keywords
Behavior problems; callous-unemotional traits; developmental psychopathology; social behavior
Categories
Funding
- Boston University Twin Project
- National Institute of Mental Health [MH062375]
- National Institute of Child Health and Human Development [HD068435, F31MH114590]
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Objective Callous-unemotional (CU) traits in early childhood explain heterogeneity within conduct problems and are associated with higher risk for later diagnoses of childhood disruptive behavior disorders and antisocial behavior in adulthood. Emerging research implicates impairments in affiliative processes in the etiology of CU traits. The current study tests whether the imitation of intentional actions with no functional significance -a behavior that supports the acquisition of social conventions and affiliative bonds, is a specific developmental precursor to CU traits in early childhood. Methods Data came from a longitudinal twin study of 628 children (Age 2: 47% females; Age 3: 44.9% females) with observations of arbitrary (i.e., nonfunctional actions) and instrumental (i.e., functional actions) imitation and parent reports of CU traits and oppositional defiant (ODD) behaviors at ages 2 and 3. Results Lower arbitrary imitation at age 2, but not instrumental imitation, was related to increases in CU traits from ages 2 to 3 (beta = -.10, p = .02). Conclusions These findings establish early social and affiliative processes in the etiology of CU traits, highlighting that novel personalized treatment and intervention strategies for CU traits may benefit from targeting these processes to help reduce CU traits and risk for persistent conduct problems in children.
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