Emotion Processing in Children with Conduct Problems and Callous-Unemotional Traits: An Investigation of Speed, Accuracy
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Emotion Processing in Children with Conduct Problems and Callous‑Unemotional Traits: An Investigation of Speed, Accuracy, and Attention Daniela Hartmann1 · Christina Schwenck1
© The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This study aimed to assess whether callous-unemotional traits (CU) are associated with deficits in emotion recognition independent of externalizing behavior and whether such deficits can be explained by aberrant attention. As previous studies have produced inconsistent results, the current study included two different emotion recognition paradigms and assessed the potential influence of factors such as processing speed and attention. The study included N = 94 children (eight to 14 years) with an oversampling of children with conduct problems (CP) and varying levels of CU-traits. Independent of externalizing behavior, CU-traits were associated with slower recognition of angry, sad and fearful facial expressions but not with higher error rates. There was no evidence that the association between CU-traits and emotion processing could be explained by misguided attention. Our results implicate that in children with high levels of CU-traits emotion recognition deficits depend on deficits in processing speed. Keywords Conduct disorder · Oppositional defiant disorder · Callous-unemotional traits · Eye gaze · Emotion processing
Introduction Aside from body posture and hand gestures, facial expressions are probably one of the most important aspects of nonverbal communication. Properly decoding facial expressions is crucial in everyday situations and especially in potential conflict situations, as they can inform us about the emotions and feelings of other individuals. Deficits in recognizing negative emotions have been repeatedly linked to various problem behaviors of children with conduct disorder (CD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) [1]. According to the DSM-5 [2], children with such conduct problems (CP) show externalizing problem behavior, including aggression, Electronic Supplementary Material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-020-00976-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Daniela Hartmann [email protected]‑giessen.de 1
Department of Special Needs Educational and Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, Justus-Liebig-University of Giessen, Otto‑Behaghel‑Straße 10 C, 35394 Giessen, Germany
deceitfulness, violations of rules and social norms, argumentative/defiant behavior, and vindictiveness. It is estimated that almost half of the individuals with CP exhibit high levels of callous-unemotional traits (CU-traits) [3]. CU-traits are characterized by a lack of empathy, shallow affect, a lack of remorse or guilt, and indifference towards one’s performance. High levels of CU-traits also occur in about two to five percent of otherwise healthy individuals [4]. High levels of CU-traits can also be observed in adults with psychopathy, as they build the affective dimension of the construct of psychopathy [
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