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The current study investigated the social correlates of conduct problems (CP) and callous-unemotional (CU) traits using peer nominations. Participants (n = 289), drawn from a sample of 3 rd , 6 th , and 8 th graders (Mage = 11.47 years; SD = 2.26), were asked to identify peers who they believed fit a number of different characteristics, in addition to individuals who they liked most and liked least. We also obtained self-, parent-, and teacher-reports of children's behaviors. Analyses extracted three primary dimensions from peer nominations, including, indicators of being mean and cold (Mean/Cold), of being aloof and untrustworthy (Not Nice), and being a leader and manipulative (Dominant/Manipulative). Results indicated that both CP and CU traits were associated with peer rejection. Further both CP and CU traits were associated with Mean/Cold and Not Nice peer nominations, whereas only CP was associated with Dominant/Manipulative nominations. Finally, bootstrap mediation analyses revealed that both the Mean/Cold and Not Nice peer dimensions accounted for a large portion of the association between CP and peer rejection and between CU traits and peer rejection. Taken together, the findings from the current study offer potential explanations for why youth with CP and CU traits are disliked by their peers, including being viewed as mean, aloof, untrustworthy, and not nice.

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The current study tested whether a self-report measure of aggression (i.e., the Peer Conflict Scale; PCS) would predict later delinquency, after controlling for other risk factors, and tested whether the different forms and functions of aggression contributed independently to this prediction. Self-report of aggression was assessed at the time of first arrest, and both self-report of delinquency and official arrests were assessed at 5 different time points over a 30-month follow-up period in a sample of male adolescent offenders (N ϭ 1,216; M age ϭ 15.12, SD ϭ 1.29 years) arrested in 3 regions (i.e., western, southern, northeast) of the United States. Aggression predicted both later total and later violent self-reported delinquency (odds ratio [OR] ϭ 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI: 1.01, 1.02]), even after controlling for youths' self-reported lifetime history of delinquent acts and callous-unemotional (CU) traits (i.e., Inventory of Callous-Unemotional Traits) collected at initial arrest. Further, only self-reported aggression (but not lifetime delinquency and CU traits) contributed independently (OR ϭ 1.02, 95% CI [1.00, 1.03]) to the prediction of arrests for violent offenses. Finally, the predictive utility of aggression was largely accounted for by physical and reactive aggression, with limited incremental prediction provided by relational and proactive aggression. These findings support the potential utility of self-reports of aggression, such as the PCS, when assessing risk for future violence. Findings also suggest that the utility of these self-reports of aggression cannot be solely accounted for by other risk factors often included in typical risk assessment tools. Public Significance StatementThis study suggests self-reported history of aggression, especially physical and reactive aggression, assessed immediately following first arrest predicts future violent offending in male adolescents, even when controlling for other known risk factors such as baseline levels of antisocial behavior and callous-unemotional traits. Thus, violence risk assessments designed to detect those youth who are most likely to be violent to determine the optimal placement following arrest would benefit from considering adolescents' reports of past aggression.

Callous-unemotional (CU) traits have recently been added to the diagnostic criteria of Conduct Disorder in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders–Fifth edition and of conduct–dissocial and oppositional defiant disorders in the International Classification of Disease–Eleventh edition as the limited prosocial emotions specifier. This change necessitates the assessment of these traits with validated measures in both research and clinical contexts. The current study sought to validate a semi-structured diagnostic interview method, the Michigan Limited Prosocial Emotion Addendum (M-LPE) to the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School-Age Children–Present and Lifetime Version, of assessing CU traits based on a recently developed clinician rating system (Clinical Assessment of Prosocial Emotions, Version 1.1) in a sample of at-risk youth. Results supported the interrater reliability of the M-LPE with moderate agreement and high reliability between raters. The M-LPE demonstrated convergent and incremental validity with CU traits and various measures of antisocial behavior. The results provide preliminary evidence for the use of a semi-structured interview assessment of CU traits in research contexts and build the foundation for further validation.