Neurophysiological markers associated with heterogeneity in conduct problems, callous unemotional traits, and anxiety: Comparing children to young adults.

Abstract

Evidence from physiological studies has been integral in many causal theories of behavioral and emotional problems. However, this evidence is hampered by the heterogeneity characterizing these problems. The current study adds to prior work by identifying neuro-physiological markers associated with heterogeneity in conduct problems (CP), callous-unemotional (CU) traits, and anxiety. Participants were classified into the following groups: (a) low risk, (b) anxious (predominately high anxiety), (c) primary (scored high on CP and CU traits but low on anxiety), and (d) secondary (high anxiety, CU traits, and CP). Developmental differences were also examined by including two different samples assessed during young adulthood (Study 1: n = 88; Mage = 19.92; 50% female) and childhood (Study 2: n = 72; Mage = 5.78, SD = 1.33; 39 males). Participants in both studies were recruited from community samples (Study 1: n = 2,306; Mage = 16, SD = .89; Study 2: n = 850; Mage = 5.01, SD = .95). Physiological responses (heart rate, skin conductance, startle modulation) were recorded while children and adults watched negative affective and neutral scenes. Medial prefrontal activation (oxygenated hemoglobin) was also measured in young adults. Findings suggested that individuals in the secondary and anxious psychopathy groups showed higher physiological arousal and startle reactivity to violent, fearful, and anger stimuli compared to individuals in the primary psychopathy group. In contrast, primary and secondary psychopathy groups showed similar physiological reactions to sad stimuli assessed during childhood. Also, young adults in the primary and secondary subtypes showed lower medial prefrontal cortex activation to violent stimuli compared to the anxious group. These findings provide evidence for the value of a multidomain approach for identifying neurophysiological mechanisms that can inform prevention and treatment efforts. (PsycINFO Database Record

Amygdala functioning during threat acquisition and extinction differentiates antisocial subtypes

“…The groups identified are consistent with those found in previous studies focused on subtyping populations at risk of engaging in severe antisocial acts, which used questionnaires and psychophysiological measures (e.g., Dackis, Rogosch, & Cicchetti, ; Fanti & Kimonis, ; Fanti et al ., ; Kimonis, Fanti, Goulter, & Hall, 2017). According to prior work, youth characterized by anxiety, with or without CU traits, and youth exposed to familial abuse show similar deficits in emotional regulation and are characterized by physiological hyper‐arousal, emotional hyper‐reactivity, and heightened defensive responses to fear‐inducing and threatening stimuli (Dackis et al ., ; Fanti et al ., ; Kimonis, Fanti, Goulter, & Hall, 2017).…”

“…Specifically, the present study aimed to extend prior work by examining differences in amygdala activity during threat acquisition and extinction between Primary and Secondary variants. Despite similar levels of CU traits, these two variants are differentiated on levels of anxiety and their responsiveness to fear (Fanti, Kyranides, Petridou, Demetriou, & Georgiou, ; for a review see Fanti, ). Recent research on psychopathy subtypes has identified groups of youth with either CU traits accompanied by low levels of anxiety (Primary group), CU traits accompanied by high levels of anxiety and history of abuse (Secondary group), or solely high anxiety (Anxious group) (Cicchetti & Toth, ; Fanti & Kimonis, ; Kimonis, Fanti, Goulter, & Hall, ).…”

“…We expected to replicate these subtypes in a sample of juvenile delinquent youth. Individuals in the Secondary and the Anxious subgroups tend to show neural hyper‐arousal and a hyper‐vigilant state primarily originating from previous abusive and traumatic social experiences that can lead to anticipatory anxieties, fear, and reactive aggression (Fanti et al ., ; Stein, Dukes, & Warren, ). Individuals in the Primary subgroups show amygdala hypo‐activity rooted in intrinsic and idiopathic deficits (Jones, Laurens, Herba, Barker, & Viding, ).…”

In the eyes of the beholder: investigating the effect of visual probing on accuracy and gaze fixations when attending to facial expressions among primary and secondary callous-unemotional variants

“…There is robust evidence that adults [17,18] and children with psychopathic and CU traits [4,5,9] show facial affect recognition impairments. However, there is controversy over whether this impairment is a general recognition deficit for all emotions [19,20] or specifically in response to others' fear [2,4,5,21] or sadness [22,23]. In line with this idea, Martin-Key and colleagues [2] found that higher levels of CP alone and CU-traits alone were linked to reduced fear recognition, whereas interactive effect between CP and CU-traits was associated with better fear recognition.…”

“…In line with this idea, Martin-Key and colleagues [2] found that higher levels of CP alone and CU-traits alone were linked to reduced fear recognition, whereas interactive effect between CP and CU-traits was associated with better fear recognition. This inconsistency in findings might reflect a failure to consider heterogeneity among individuals with psychopathic traits as preliminary research suggests that primary and secondary CU variants differ in their facial affect recognition and emotional attention processing [9,22,23]. A recent study conducted with children with behavioral problems [9] taking anxiety into account found that emotion recognition deficits were more characteristic of primary CU traits.…”