BACKGROUND: How is the perception of collaboration influenced by individual characteristics, in particular high levels of callous-unemotional (CU) traits? CU traits are associated with low empathy and endorsement of negative social goals such as dominance and forced respect. Thus, it is possible that they could relate to difficulties in interpreting that others are collaborating based on a shared goal.
METHODS: In the current study, a community sample of 15- to 16-year olds participated in an eye tracking task measuring whether they expect that others engaged in an action sequence are collaborating, depending on the emotion they display toward each other. Positive emotion would indicate that they share a goal, while negative emotion would indicate that they hold individual goals.
RESULTS: When the actors showed positive emotion toward each other, expectations of collaboration varied with CU traits. The higher adolescents were on CU traits, the less likely they were to expect collaboration. When the actors showed negative emotion toward each other, CU traits did not influence expectations of collaboration.
CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that CU traits are associated with difficulty in perceiving positive social interactions, which could further contribute to the behavioral and emotional problems common to those with high CU traits.
Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the specificity of inhibition, working memory (WM), and reaction time variability (RTV) in relation to symptoms of ADHD and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Method: A community-based sample of schoolchildren aged 7 to 9 years (N = 200) completed tasks designed to measure inhibition, WM, and RTV. Results: All neuropsychological functions were related to symptoms of both ADHD and ASD. The results from regression analyses showed that inhibition and RTV were related specifically to ADHD symptoms when controlling for symptoms of ASD. Regarding WM, no specific association with either symptom domain was evident after controlling for the other. Furthermore, independent contributions of inhibition and RTV were found in relation to ADHD symptoms after controlling for ASD symptoms. Conclusion: The present study underscores the relevance of controlling for ADHD symptoms when examining ASD symptoms in relation to neuropsychological functions.
Callous-unemotional (CU) traits are associated with lower emotional reactivity in adolescents. However, since previous studies have focused mainly on reactivity to negative stimuli, it is unclear whether reactivity to positive stimuli is also affected. Further, few studies have addressed the link between CU traits and emotional reactivity in longitudinal community samples, which is important for determining its generalizability and developmental course. In the current study, pupil dilation and self-ratings of arousal and valence were assessed in 100 adolescents (15-17 years) from a community sample, while viewing images with negative and positive valence from the International Affective Pictures System (ZAPS). Behavioral traits (CU) were assessed concurrently, as well as at ages 12-15, and 8-9 (subsample, n = 68, low levels of prosocial behavior were used as a proxy for CU traits). The results demonstrate that CU traits assessed at ages 12-15 and 8-9 predicted less pupil dilation to both positive and negative images at ages 15-17. Further, CU traits at ages 12-15 and concurrently were associated with less negative valence ratings for negative images and concurrently to less positive valence ratings for positive images. The current findings demonstrate that CU traits are related to lower emotional reactivity to both negative and positive stimuli in adolescents from a community sample.