Assessing Psychopathic Traits Early in Development: Testing Potential Associations with Social, Behavioral, and Affective Factors

Abstract

The Child Problematic Traits Inventory (CPTI) enables the assessment of psychopathy dimensions as early as age three. The current study employs a multi-informant approach (i.e., fathers, mothers, and teachers) to further investigate the unique associations between psychopathy dimensions, as measured by the CPTI, with theoretically relevant constructs of interest, such as conduct problems, oppositionality, empathy, and social relations, in early childhood (N = 1283, M age = 6.35). Although associations with conduct, aggressive, and oppositional behaviours differed in strength, our findings supported the importance of all psychopathy dimensions in predicting behavioral problems. Our findings also suggested a unique association of the callous-unemotional dimension with affective empathy. Furthermore, stronger associations were identified between the callous-unemotional and impulsive need for stimulation dimensions with social problems (e.g., peer and family relations) compared to the grandiose-deceitful dimension. Current findings can inform prevention and intervention efforts aiming to alter the development of psychopathic traits.

The Role of Teacher Interpersonal Behavior on Learning Outcomes in The Cognitive, Affective, and Moral Domains

“…Furthermore, based on the results of multiple regression the relationship between the teacher interaction questionnaire and learning outcomes explains that the scale of the questionnaire varies from not very significant in predicting learning outcomes in the cognitive, affective, and moral domains of students (Rose et al, 2023;Scherzinger & Wettstein, 2019). Positive teacher interaction questionnaire scales such as leadership, helpfulness/friendliness, understanding, responsibility/freedom not only act as significant predictors of learning outcomes, but also tend to show a positive relationship with learning outcomes in every aspect (Bajovic & Rizzo, 2021;Demetriou et al, 2023). This is different from the negative interaction questionnaire scale which does not have a significant impact on student learning outcomes in all aspects of student learning outcomes.…”

“…Furthermore, a simpler questionnaire was developed in America and Australia using a Likert scale and a question range of 50-60 questions. Since then, this questionnaire has been developed by several countries including countries in the Asian region, such as Japan, Korea and Singapore (Demetriou et al, 2023;Sun et al, 2018). In addition, several previous studies have also confirmed the reliability and validity of the teacher interaction questionnaire.…”

The Interplay between Fear Reactivity and Callous–Unemotional Traits Predicting Reactive and Proactive Aggression

“…Specifically, adolescents with elevated CU traits tend to report diminished subjective fear when recalling emotionally charged life events [16], score lower on self-report fear assessments [17], exhibit reduced physiological arousal to emotional stimuli [18], and demonstrate lower awareness of behaviors that elicit fear in others [19]. The low fear response has been attributed to deficits in emotional processing and the ability to see others' perspectives [20]. Given that this fear deficit has been observed among preschoolers [21], fearlessness can exacerbate typical social development and play a bidirectional role in the development of CU traits [22].…”